When All Roads Lead Back To You
by othforever
Summary: After the Season 2 Finale: Brooke, afraid to open her heart to Lucas again, decides against returning to Tree Hill. Two years later, her parents are both killed in a car accident and she decides it’s time to stop hiding and return home.
1. Chapter 1

When All Road Lead Back To You

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1

Brooke Davis took one final deep breath as she stepped off the escalator and into the baggage claim area of Tree Hill Airport. She hadn't been home in over two years and the memories of the love she had left behind had come flooding back.

He had told her that he wanted to be with her and not Peyton and all she could do was panic and leave. She hadn't seen or talked to him since. From the few emails that she had exchanged with Peyton, she new that he was hurt, but he had slowly moved on.

She wished that the same could have been said or herself. Not a day had gone by where she didn't think of him. There had been a few dates here and there but not one of those guys was as smart as him. Not one of them was a cute as him. Or had as eyes as blue as him. They weren't as good at basketball as him. They weren't as sweet, trusting, caring…the list went on and on. In other words, they just weren't Lucas Scott and she didn't know if she would be able to be as happy as she had been when she was with him.

But just as easily as her feelings of wanting to be with him came, so did the terrible feelings of pain that came when she remembered why she couldn't be with him. He had cheated on her with her best friend and as much as she wanted to, her heart just couldn't let it go.

Shaking her head, she tried to clear her mind of all thoughts of Lucas. He wasn't the reason for her return home. After joining her parents in California, they had come through on their promise and they had become a real family. They had been there for every major occasion: birthday, graduation, moving her into her college dorm. Then just as she had fixed that broken piece of her heart, they were ripped away. Her mom and dad were killed in a car accident with a drunk driver. With all her family still in North Carolina, she agreed with her aunt in having the funeral and burial in Tree Hill. Her life was a cruel string of seeing how good it could be only for it to be torn painfully away for her.

She could feel the tears forming again. It had been a week since the accident and every time she thought that she was done crying, she would start all over again. But if anything Brooke Davis was stubborn. She refused to make a scene in a crowded airport. She composed herself and scanned the crowd. She looked for the familiar face of her best friend. Peyton was the only one who knew that she was coming back. After a few minutes, she saw her blond friend waving to her. Not realizing how much she had missed her, she ran into her arms and engulfed her in big hug.

"I missed you P. Sawyer."

"I missed you too Brooke, so much. I'm so sorry about your parents but I'm so glad that you're back. Welcome home. How are you?"

"I've been better. I just can't believe their gone, you know? I mean, they were gone for most of my life and just when I felt like they really did love me, they're just gone," Brooke said softly. She couldn't hold it in anymore. The tears came and Peyton hugged her again.

"I'm here for you Brooke. When I lost my mom, you were there for me, let me be there for you. Come on, you must be tired. Let's get you to my house and you can get some rest."

A/N - This is an old story and I am not changing the plot. Just going back and fixing some typos since I didn't use Word and spellcheck when originally writing this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Peyton took Brooke home to the house that they both grew up in. It was usually empty what with Peyton's father, Larry, working out at sea for weeks at a time and Peyton living in an apartment near the Duke campus where she was currently a sophmore. Larry had made it home after he had heard that Brooke would be staying there. Brooke was like a second daughter to him. As soon as she walked in the door Peyton, he was there to wrap her up in a hug.

"I'm so sorry sweetie."

"Thanks for letting me stay here Larry. I didn't really feel comfortable with my Aunt. I hadn't even talked to her in like 5 years before she called about the funeral arrangements."

"No thanks necessary B. I wouldn't have you staying anywhere else. Although, I did mention to Karen that you were coming and I think that you would be welcome there too," Larry told her pointedly.

Brooke smiled back at him tersely. "I feel bad for not keeping in contact with Karen. I wanted to call her and tell her about the funeral…I just couldn't. Not after the way I left things with…" She couldn't even say his name. She just looked down and Larry gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"You're gonna have to see Rake boy sometime B."

"Especially since after you rest up, Daddy's taking us to Karen's Café for dinner. We both just got home this morning so there's no food here," interrupted Peyton.

"Hmmm, saltines and water for dinner or Rake Boy? Tough choice B."

Brooke had to give a small laugh. "I dunno, I may go for the saltines and water."

"Yeah, but we're outvoting you aren't we daddy?"

"That's right Peyt. I've been on a boat for over a month, there's no way I'm going to pass up some of Karen's meatloaf."

"Gee, thanks guys," Brookes says, while rolling her eyes at them. It was nice though. They were teasing her like she had never left. "I think I will take that nap though. I didn't get much of a chance to sleep on the plane."

Brooke fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When she woke up, she noticed that it was dark outside. She sat up, yawning as she stretched out. She went over to her suitcase and grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater so she could be more comfortable. She walked into Peyton's bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

'I look about as bad as I feel' she thought to herself.

Her eyes were red from all the crying and were getting baggy for the lack of sleep. She rinsed her face and put her hair into a ponytail and she felt a little better. Walking downstairs, she could hear Peyton and her dad watching tv. They looked up at her expectedly as she came in and sat on the sofa opposite them.

"All rested B?" She could tell from his eyes that he was worried about her.

She nodded. "How long was I out?"

"About 3 hours. We thought you might be out for the night. You hungry, we could always bring you back some takeout if you're too tired to go with us?" Peyton asked helpfully.

"I'll be ok. A lil jetlag isn't going to hurt me. I actually want to see Karen. Besides, what are the chances he'll be there, right? He doesn't even know I'm in town and he's at school."

When Peyton, couldn't look at her in the eye, Brooke began to worry. "Pey, what did you do?"

"Well…you see, you know how Haley, Nate, and Lucas are all at Duke right? Well, they would notice if I was missing for a week. I told them that you were coming back. Haley insisted on coming with me, so of course that means that Nate would come. And they told Luke that he was coming too."

"Do they hate me?" Brooke asked in barely a whisper.

"Why would they hate you? Hales is so worried about you. She doesn't think you should go back to California. She says that you're going to be all by yourself."

"That sounds just like Tutorgirl. I missed her too but I did make some friends out there. I'm not a total loser," Brooke joked.

"We just miss you around here, Brooke. We want you here with us."

"You guys are sweet. I wouldn't want me back after I left and didn't look back."

"You were hurt, we understand. Especially me, believe me."

"Does _he_ hate me?"

"Yeah, right. It's Lucas, Brooke. He could never hate you. I think he's just hurt too."

"Ok, well let's do this."

Larry drove them over to Karen's Café. Brooke lagged a little bit behind as Peyton and her dad burst through the door. Karen looked up as the bell rang indicating that there were new customers. It was pretty late so there weren't too many people in the café anymore. Seeing Peyton, she walked towards them. Brooke looked over at Karen and gave her a weak smile. She looked nervously around and as if she had radar for him, she found the back of his head in a booth in the back. He was in some intense conversation with Haley and Nathan so they hadn't noticed them yet.

"Sweetie, come here," Karen said and she was pulled into another hug. Karen held onto her tight. "I missed you Brooke. I'm so sorry. Whatever you need, I'm here."

"I missed you too Karen," Brooke was now crying into the older woman's shoulder. Before, she had gotten close to her own mother again, it was Karen who had taken her into her home and treated her like her own daughter. At this point, Brooke couldn't control her emotions. She broke down. "It's not fair, Karen. How could they leave me again? They promised me, they wouldn't leave me anymore…they promised."

"I know sweetie, I know. It's ok to let it out Brooke."

By now, Lucas, Haley and Nathan, had noticed the commotion. They saw Larry with his arms around Peyton as they sadly watched Brooke in Karen's arms. They all stood and walked over to them. Brooke had seen the movement and knew that everyone was watching her now so she tried to compose herself. She let go of Karen and stepped back to take a deep breath. As soon as she looked up she saw his intense blue eyes staring back at her. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. After so much time, he still had such a hold over her.

Haley broke the silence, hugging her. "Tigger…you're back."

"Hey Tutorgirl," Brooke sighed. She was exhausted. The feeling of hunger that she once had was gone and all she wanted to do was go back to bed and hide under the covers. A few seconds later, she felt another pair of arms encircling her as Nathan was holding both girls.

"Welcome home Brooke. It hasn't been the same without you."

"Thanks Nate."

Brooke was finally able to stop the tears and calm herself down. She stepped out of the hug and gave everyone a brave smile and then looked down. Everyone expectedly looked over to the only person who hadn't greeted her yet. After a few minutes of awkward silence, it was obvious that neither Brooke nor Lucas was going to make the first move so Karen took control. She nudged her son in the ribs and slightly nodded in Brooke's direction. He stared back but the look she gave him told him that he needed to do something.

"Hey Brooke," he said dryly.

"Lucas…"

"Well, why don't you all grab a seat and I'll get you some food?" Karen asked after a few more minutes of silence.

"Actually, I'm pretty beat. I'll see you at home, Mom. Bye guys." With that, Lucas made a motion as if he was waving good-bye and walked out.

Nathan sighed and said his good-byes as well and went to check on his big brother.

Brooke thought that she might start crying again as she saw him walk away. 'It's your own fault,' she argued with herself. Peyton gave her a squeeze and led her to a table.

"Let's eat, Brooke. You're going to need to stay strong."

Brooke just nodded and went through the motions to make it go faster. She was so relieved when she got back to the Sawyer house and she could collapse into her bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Brooke woke up the next morning to the sun shining in through the window. A quick glance to the nightstand showed it was almost 11 o'clock.

'Damn time change,' she groaned.

She threw the covers over her head and tried to see if she could fall back asleep. The funeral wasn't scheduled until the next day but she was supposed to go over to her to her Aunt's house to see some of her relatives in the evening. She was so not looking forward to it. When she knew for sure that she wasn't going to be able to fall back to sleep, she got out of bed and took a shower. She didn't know if there was some sort of etiquette she had to follow so she opted for shades of black and gray. When she was done getting dressed, she went downstairs to find a note from Peyton.

_Brooke,_

_I had some errands to do and I didn't want to wake you. Give me a call and we can meet up later. _

_P. Sawyer_

Sighing, she didn't know what to do next. She hated this feeling of uncertainty that she was having. She felt so alone. As great as everyone was being by welcoming her home with open arms when she really didn't deserve it, she still felt like an outsider. She had been gone for two years. When she had left, they were a bunch of kids of high school drama. Now they were young adults, almost done with college. She had noticed the change at the Café yesterday. While none of her friends had changed drastically, they just seemed more mature.

'Growing up sucks' Brooked couldn't help but think of the old Toys 'R Us Slogan and couldn't help but hum it to her self as she decided some fresh air was what she needed. She was going to walk around and see if Tree Hill could have changed all that much in two years.

She kept repeating the tune over and over until she found herself at the Rivercourt.

'Figures, I'd end up here.'

Before she had met Lucas, she had no reason to ever go to it, but after the first time they had gotten together, she found herself there a lot. She even found herself going there to think when he wasn't there. She could spend hours sitting on the picnic bench looking as the boats floated down the river. Closing her eyes as she sat on the same table, she could almost make believe that the last two years had never happened. Any second, some of the guys could show up and start one of their pick up games. 'I wonder if Skills and Bevin are still together?' That was one pairing that she never expected when she heard about it from Peyton.

Memories came back of all the times she would drive her car onto the grass so that she could watch and cheer Lucas on. Of them making out in her car afterwards. Of the time, she came to him here when she thought she was pregnant. It was so odd. When she was gone, she was able to disconnect herself from these memories. She could start fresh in California but now that she was back, she couldn't go anywhere without being reminded of how happy and how sad she was here.

She was still sitting there when she heard footsteps in the grass. Turning to see who was coming, she had to smile to see Lucas looking at her questioningly with a basketball in his hands.

'Yup, some things will never change,' she thought to herself. 'Here goes nothing.'

"Hi Luke."

"Brooke."

He sure wasn't going to make it easy. Even when she hated him and never wanted to see him again, it wasn't this hard to talk to him. Sighing, she gave up and stood up to go.

"You don't have to go. You were here first. I could come back later."

"No that's ok. I think I should go anyway."

"Ok."

Brooke couldn't help it anymore, she had to let out a giggle and a shake of her head as she walked away.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Everything. I dunno. It was nice seeing you Lucas."

"So that's it? You're gone for two years, and you're just going to leave again."

"Excuse me?"

"I think you know what I mean Brooke. How can you pretend like you didn't leave for two years and forgot all about us?"

"I didn't forget anything."

"Really? Because the lack of visits, phone calls, letters, emails kinda disproves that."

"You know it goes both ways. You know where I lived, you knew my email address. You could have made the first move."

"What are you talking about? I did make the first move! Or did you forget about me kissing you before you left too?"

"That's not fair! I was leaving and I didn't know if I was going to ever come back and you tell me that you want to be with me 2 minutes before I have to leave? What was I supposed to do? Do a happy dance and sing, 'Yay, he wants me. Let me stop everything I'm doing and be with the guy who cheated on me with my best friend, and who still has a bunch of her stuff hidden in his closet, because obviously him just saying he wants me is going to make it all better? I don't think so! I'm never going to work that way."

He stood there unable to say anything and she shook her head again.

"Look Luke, I'm not saying that what I did was right, but you have to see it from my side. I was scared. I would have died if I had to relive our break-up again. It was just easier to go to California and try to move on than to try and get over it and try it again. I'm sorry if I was immature about it but what's done is done. I really hope that you're happy now. I do."

"You didn't even give me a chance to prove to you I meant it."

"I know. I'm sorry, Lucas. I can't do this right now. I'll see you, kay?"

A look of guilt passed through his eyes as he nodded and let her walk away this time. She walked away as quickly as she could, only stopping when she knew she was no longer in his sight. 'God, why can't anything be easy?'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Lucas watched her leave. 'Jerk! Her parents just died and you're blaming her for not wanting to take you back two years ago!' He smacked himself on the forehead. 'I am such an ass.'

He didn't even understand why he did it. Ever since Peyton had told him a couple days ago that she would be staying with her, he couldn't get that scene in his room out of his mind. He didn't even want to come home with Nathan and Haley but they harassed him until he finally relented.

_Flashback to 3 days prior._

"_Luke, you cannot seriously be thinking of not going home with us?" Haley argued with a look of disbelief on her face._

"_I don't even see how this is an issue. She hasn't told us that she's coming home. She hasn't asked us to the funeral. How can you even assume she wants us there? Obviously, she hasn't wanted to talk to us for two years, why would this be any different?" he retorted._

"_Dude, even I don't believe that crap," Nathan interjected. "It's Brooke. She just lost her parents. She might not go outright and tell us that she wants to be there, hell you might even be right, and she doesn't want us to be there, but if we really consider her our friend, we should be there no matter what."_

"_Aww, Nate. I think that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard you say," Haley gushed._

"_I don't see how you guys can just ignore the fact that she didn't want us in her life?"_

"_Luke, look at me," Haley waited until his eyes were on her. "I think I know better than anyone that just because you leave, it doesn't mean you don't love the people you left behind. Sometimes, you just need to see what's out there to realize that you have everything right in front of you. You, Nathan and Peyt found it in your hearts to take me back after I had left to go on tour, why should this be any different?"_

"_You were gone for two months, Hales! You called once in awhile. She's been gone two years with nothing!"_

_He didn't feel like continuing this conversation so he stalked out of the room. Haley being the annoying pest that she was said that he was going home with them whether he liked it or not. She went as far as to call Karen who lectured him for another hour until he finally gave up and said that he would come but not promising anything._

_Flashback to the night before._

_Luke walked out of the café and started to walk in the direction of his house. A few moments later Nathan had caught up to him and started walking with him_

"_Why does it matter, Luke?" Nate suddenly asked. "You said that you've been over her for awhile now. Why make such a big deal about this? Do you really think that Brooke is bad person because she left? Why are you so mad at her?"_

" _I don't know Nate. I just am and I hate it. I saw here crying and all I really wanted to do was give her a hug and make it all better."_

"_Why didn't you? That's probably exactly what she needed."_

"_That's just it. If she wanted that, she wouldn't have gone two years before she came back. She obviously didn't care about me as much as I thought."_

"_For someone whose supposedly so smart, you're being pretty dumb right now."_

"_Gee, thanks Nate."_

"_I'm serious. Besides, so what if she wasn't in love with you two years ago? She needs you now. Did you see her in there? She's barely holding it together. She doesn't need you to put all your shit on her too. If you don't want to forgive her, fine. All I'm going to ask is that you don't act like a jerk to her while she's here. She's got enough going on. It took a lot to get her back here, do you really want her to go home after this and forget about us again? Because I don't and I don't think that you do either...I don't even think that she does. I think she just felt like it's easier that way."_

"_Did you change to a psychology major and not tell me?"_

"_Seriously, Luke. Brooke has never had it easy. Every time things look up for her, something happens and she has to start over again from scratch. She thinks she has to do it alone too. I know that you loved her. Sometimes, I think that you still love her."_

"_I don't."_

"_Fine. Whatever, prove it. Show me that you've really moved on. Stop being a jackass, dude. She deserves at least that much." _

_They walked the rest of the way in silence and settled into the living room to watch ESPN until he could get a ride home. Nathan had called Haley to come pick him up once she was done at the café._

_Flashbacks ended._

Lucas started to shoot around by himself to make the guilt go away. Shaking his head, he gave up. He headed home to shower and get changed. He needed to to apologize to her. Nathan was right. She didn't need to deal with this. He was the immature one and he was going to set things right.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Brooke had ended up deciding that she was just going to go back to Peyton's house and wait until it was time for them to head over to her Aunt's house later on that evening. She had gotten about halfway there when she changed her mind and started walking to her old house. Staring that the bright red door, she couldn't help but think of all the times she stood on that porch and waved good-bye to her parents as they went on one of thier many trips. The house looked lonely. If she hadn't seen when the new owners were moving in she would have sworn that it was empty. She was almost tempted to ring the doorbell and see if they would let her have one last look. In the end, she decided against it and walked back to Peyton's.

She left Peyton a voicemail to just meet her at home and Peyton arrived a little after Brooke had made herself a sandwich for lunch. Stealing the other half of the sandwich and taking a bite, Peyton plopped onto the stool across from Brooke.

"So what kind of trouble have you been getting yourself into while I was gone?" Peyton teased.

"I barely got up," Brooke replied.

"I figured."

"I ended up walking to the Rivercourt."

"Uh-oh, don't tell me. You ran into a certain 6 foot blond ex-boyfriend of yours? One who practically left skidmarks at the Cafe yesterday trying to get out of there as soon as possilbe without having to say more than 2 words to you?"

"Exactly."

"And what did he say?"

"I'm guessing pretty much whatever's he's been holding in for the last 2 years or so. He was just standing there so I was just going to go ahead and leave. He accused me of leaving again. I got mad and said that it went both ways, he could have made the first move. He said he did that when he kissed me. I said I didn't want to deal with it and I left."

"Uh-huh."

"I know that I didn't handle the whole kissing/leaving thing all that great, but I never expected him to be this angry."

"He's never talked to us much about it. Haley and I tried to figure out where his head was at on this a long time ago. He gave the same answer each time 'I'm over it.' Obviously, he isn't Brooke. Do you really think that if he was over it, he would be making such a big deal about it?"

"I don't know Peyt. I really don't need this right now. I mean, my parents are gone. My head is all mixed up as it is. How am I supposed deal with that and then add thewhole I may still be in love with him but I'm too scared to trust him and let him in again drama?"

"Woah, back up a bit! You're still in love with him?"

"Sometimes I think that I am. I compare every guy that I go out with to him, Peyt. And not one of those guys has been able to live up to the expectations that I have of being with him...which if you consider the whole cheating issue, is pretty sad. Another part of me thinks that it's not really him I want, it's the just the feeling I had when I was with him."

"You know Brooke, the only way to find the answer to that is to take the risk and give it a shot. Otherwise, you're going to go your whole life and wonder what if. That's just crappy. C'mon Brooke, youwere the biggest risk-taker I knew. No regrets, remember?"

"That was before taking the risk blew up in my face. Honestly, Peyt. I don't know if I could go through that again. Besides, maybe we really are overanalyzing this. He very well could have moved on."

"I don't think so but I do agree on one thing. You don't have to rush this. You have a lot going on right now. It's probably not the best time to be settling two year grudges."

"Thanks. I think you're right. I need to get through the next two days before I go and try to fix the rest of my life."

"I'm glad that we can still talk like this Brooke. An email here and there just isn't the same as my best friend."

"Me too. Me too. I promise I won't let that happen again. If I've learned anything the last 24 hours, it's how much I missed you guys. But enough of my drama, what's going on with you? Any hot guys I need to give the third degree, huh, huh?"

"Ahh...there's the Brooke I know and love. Actually, I've been talking to this guy...and..."

"And...you're killing me Peyt!"

"And you know him pretty well."

"I do? Who? Don't tell me you're seeing Tim? Peyton Sawyer, have I taught you nothing?"

"Tim!" Peyton laughed. "No! Hell no! You're crazy Brooke. Jake. It's Jake. About a year ago, he called me and he told me that he found Nikki and Jenny and he was finishing up with the whole custody issue. Anyway, he goes to Wake Forest now. So, we see each other here and there..."

"Jagelski! That's awesome Peyt! I love Jake. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"We were doing the whole email thing for awhile and it was only like three months ago when he came down to visit me at school. It was really nice. You should see Jenny? She's so big now. We're taking it slow with the whole distance thing but so far it's been going really well."

"Aww...I'm so happy for you. That's the best news I've had in so long."

"Thanks. It is pretty great. He actually might come tomorrow if you don't mind. He really wanted to see you. I hope that's ok."

"It would be really nice to see Jake again. That is so sweet of him to come down for me."

"Hey, that's what friends do. I know that you feel guilty about leaving. That doesn't mean we're going to leave you to do this on you own, kay? Let us be there for you."

"I will. It's nice having that again. I've made some good friends in California, but they just aren't you P. Sawyer."

"Damn straight! I'm just kidding. I feel the same way, Brooke."

The girls spent the rest of the afternoon catching up before Larry got home and it was time to get ready to go to Brooke's Aunt's house. Her father's sister, Katherine, with her husband Frank and ten year old son Michael, were basically the only family that Brooke had left. Both sets of her grandparents had died when she was little and her mother was an only child. As Brooke looked at herself in the mirror wearing a conservative black skirt and a black cashmere sweater, the reality of what she was about to do hit her. It was one thing to grieve for her parents while she was alone in California, or even with Peyton. It was another to be in front of a room filled with her father's stuffy business aquaintances and family who she had barely ever talked to. She knew what was going to happen. They would go up to her and say 'I am sorry for your loss'. Then they would go on with thier lives as if nothing had happened. This was strictly for show. They needed to put on act and make it look like they cared but in reality, they would just be going along with protocol. In a way, she felt bad for her parents. They deserved better than that. They had realized in the last two years that social standing wasn't everything. She just wished that the people around them had known that as well. Thank goodness Larry and Peyton were going to go with her. Larry knew her parents in high school but they rarely saw each other since he was also away at work most of the time. Peyton, herself, had probably only greeted them in passing as she came and went to visit Brooke. Karen was going to come and bring Keith. Haley also insisted that she was going to be there so that meant Nathan would be there too. It was odd to Brooke that the people who cared for her the most and who would help her get through this loss where the people who had the least to do with her parents.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Meanwhile at Lucas' house, everyone was getting ready as well. Haley and Nathan arrived early so that they could bring Lucas along with them. For a moment, she thought he would refuse to come again. When he called her that afternoon to ask what time they were heading out, Haley let out a sigh of relief. She and Nathan arrived and took a seat in the living room as they waited for Karen, Keith and Lucas to finish. Karen was already dressed but she was cooking some finger foods to bring over to Brooke's Aunt's house. Keith actually wasn't getting dressed. He was arguing with Karen about the fact that she was making him wear a tie and jacket.

"I don't even know these people! They won't care!" Keith whined.

Karen didn't even respond. She went on cooking as if she didn't even hear. Keith eventually gave up and went to get dressed. Haley laughed as she went through the exact same scene with Nathan earlier.

Lucas, on the other hand, was bieng his normal brooding self. He was wearing nice slacks, a dress shirt and a tie but he chose to sit on the swing on the porch instead of wait inside with everyone else. Haley eventually went out to join him.

"Hey buddy, what's so interesting out here, you can't sit inside with the cool people, huh?"

"I messed up, Hales."

"You mean blowing up at Brooke?"

"She told you?"

"Nah, she told Peyton who told me. What's going on?"

"I went to the Rivercourt to think and she was sitting there. She looked so sad. I didn't know what to say to her so she started to leave. I don't know why but I kinda accused her of leaving again."

"Luke..."

"I know. I know. I'm an ass. Your husband was kind enough to tell me that last night. I feel really bad, Hales. Her parents died and I'm dumping this on her."

"Sometimes when we bury our feelings inside for so long, we reach a point where it all comes rushing out. I guess seeing her after so long, you just couldn't hold it in anymore."

"I guess. It doesn't make it right, though. I mean I know that she didn't really do anything that I have the right to be mad at. She didn't want to be with me. Why am I blaming her for moving on?"

"Maybe because you haven't moved on yet."

"I have!"

"Have you? You haven't had a serious relationship in over two years Luke!"

"What about..."

"I don't even awknowledge the nonsense that was Rachel. Look, I'm not saying that you and Brooke belong together. It's been a long time. Both of you have changed. If you haven't noticed, we're not high school teenagers anymore. But I think that what you both need is some closure. Give her some time to deal with her parents first. That's what's most important. I know you know that too. Once she has some time to process it all, maybe you can talk it out and you can both move forward."

"I'm gonna apologize to her, Hales."

"Good. But I already knew that you would. You're a good guy Luke."

"I wanna be."

"Good because I think she needs you right now."

"She needs all of us."

"Yeah, she does. We're the only family she has left. Can you imagine how hard this on her? I just don't want her to feel like she's alone in all this to the point where when she does leave again, she doesn't talk to us again ever."

"I can't believe how things turned out. She told me about the time that you wanted to run her over with the bus after she showed your note to Nathan."

"That was the same night that she set me and Nathan up. I owe her a lot. You were the one who told me to give her a chance. I'm glad you did."

"Do you know how long she's gonna be here?"

"Peyton said that she'll probably be here until next weekend. There's a bunch of legal stuff that needs to be taken care of. I think she has to meet with some lawyer at the beginning of next week. Her quarter at UCLA already started though so I don't think she can be here for much longer than that."

"God, as if she didn't have enough to deal with."

"Hey guys, Keith and Karen are all set," Nathan interrupted by sticking his head through the door.

"Ready, buddy?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, I am."

They both stood and followed Nathan out to the car. Brooke's Aunt Katherine was only one town away so the ride was only around fifteen minutes and went quickly. They followed Keith and Karen inside where they were greeted by Brooke's Aunt and Uncle. Once some introductions were made, they were pointed to the livingroom where everyone was gathering. They walked in and found Larry standing next to Peyton in the corner.

"Larry, Peyt. How's it going?" Keith asked.

"Nothing much," Larry replied.

"Where's Brooke?" Karen asked. Her mother hen insticts were taking over thinking that Brooke was alone.

"Her Aunt asked her to mingle with some of the guests. The last we saw of her, she was being dragged away by some woman from the country club her parents used to be apart of," Peyton responded.

"How's she doing?" asked Hayley.

"I think she's starting to close herself off again. She barely knows these people. She's got her fake smile on," Peyton grumbled.

"Poor Brooke."

"So how long until we can save her and get her out of here?" Nathan asked.

"Kids, I know it doesn't seem fair but that's how Brooke's family does it. Let's respect thier wishes," Larry reasoned even though he was thinking the same thing.

Lucas wasn't really paying attention to what everyone else was saying. He had spotted her in the adjoining room. Some woman had pulled her into a fake hug and was holding onto her hands as she said something. Brooke was nodding and just as Peyton had said, she put on her fake smile and he could see her mouth the words 'Thank you, that means so much to me.' The woman must have started off on another topic as Brooke just continued to nod her head and smile. After a couple minutes, he saw the woman finally turn and walk away. Brooke closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before checking to see if anyone else was going to come up to her. Once she saw that they no one was approaching she turned quickly and slipped out the door. Lucas saw this as his chance to get a moment and apologize to her so he left his friends and family and followed her out to the empty porch where Brooke was sitting on the steps with her face in her hands.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Brooke was startled at first and it took her a minute to register who was talking to. She must have been asked that question a hundred times already inside. Each time, she would answer with the same 'I'm doing ok' because she highly doubted that whomever was asking that question even heard her reply. Most would immediately move onto the next line, 'I'm so sorry for your loss' and so on and so on. It was getting to be too much. She looked up at him and shook her head to indicate that she wasn't ok and he wentto her and took him in arms. He held onto her tightly and he could feel her sobbing into his chest.

"Just let it out, Brooke. I'm sorry about last night and this morning. I'm here for you, whatever you need."

She didn't respond but she clung to him tighter. He tried to comfort her by rubbing her back. They didn't say anything for a long time. He knew she didn't really want to talk so he would hold her for as long as she needed him to.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

He held her for what felt like hours but it was probably only 15 minutes. He felt so helpless, knowing that nothing he could say or do was going to make her feel better. He thought back to that night thier junior year in high school when she had called him from Duke when Peyton had been drugged. That was the first real conversation that they really had and he remembered when the conversation had turned to family. She had told him that she wished that she had the relationship that he had with his mother because her parents would rather give her money than spend time with her. Or right before his mom came back from Italy, she was so excited to meet his mom because she wasn't close to hers. That was the night she told him that people who are meant to be together will find each other in the end. He remembered thinking that he was she was giving him a sign and he was supposed to be with Peyton.

She was definitely the most resiliant person that he had ever known. He didn't know how she could keep going after the people she had the most trust in continued to let her down. He felt about 3 inches tall when he thought abouthow he had been treating her the last couple of days.

"I'm sorry that I've been such an ass Brooke. You don't deserve it."

"I'm just tired of it all, Luke. I just want it to all go away. I don't think I can do this."

"Don't say that. You can. I know you can."

"You know what I keep asking myself? Was I that big of a bitch that I deserve all this?"

"No! Stop talking like that!"

"Why? It's true. They didn't want me for 18 years! Do you know how many birthdays I remember with my parents? Two. The last two. The first one I had in California, they knew that I didn't want to be there that summer, my mom took me to this spa and we spent the whole day together and we just talked. It felt so nice. Then Daddy met us for dinner.We were like a real family. Every year, when you make those stupid wishes on your candles, that's all I asked for. I just wanted to know that I wasn't some mistake, that they really did love me. I finally had that. But every damn time I think things are going to work out, something happens and it hurts a hundred more times than if I never had it at all! If they were going to just going to die, then I wish that they would have just kept on ignoring me!"

"I wish I knew how to make it go away. If I could, you've got to know that I would."

"I don't want you to fix it! Don't you get it? What's the point? I go to you to help me through this. I start needing you again...then you leave. I don't want it Lucas, I don't. I can't handle it anymore."

His heart ached to see how broken she really was. In a way, he could understand the reasoning behind her actions. She was trying to protect herself because each time she let those walls down, she ended up on the losing end. How could he blame her for not trying to contact him? He should of been blaming himself, angry at himself that he was a part of the reason she was closing herself off to everyone.

"Please don't say that."

"So I should lie? Like I was doing in there? None of those people give a damn about me! They don't care about how I'm doing? They just don't want to look like the heartless people they are so they act like they care."

"I care. Peyton, Hales, Nate, Larry, Keith, my mom. They all care about you Brooke. Please let us help you."

"I can't. I don't want to anymore."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I know I let you down in the past but I want the chance to show you that you do deserve to be happy, Brooke. You really do."

"It's not worth it. Who knows how much more crap I'm going to have to deal with to get there? Who even says that it's going to happen?"

"You're just going to give up? That's not the Brooke Davis I used to know."

"Yeah, well. I really don't have the energy to be that girl anymore. Especially, when I'm just going to end up disappointed in the end."

"I know that this may seem useless now but I believe in you, Brooke. You are one of the strongest, smartest people I know. You have so much ahead of you. I'm not going to let you give up."

"It's not up to you, Lucas."

"I know but I'll keep it going until I can convince you too."

"Why do you even care? Aren't you mad at me?"

"I was but I was just being an idiot. I'm mad at myself. After what I did to you, I should have been grateful that you even considered being my friend again. I didn't even deserve that. But you did, because that's just the person that you are."

"I know that you're sorry because that's just the person that you are, Luke. But if you don't mind, I really don't need to rehash what happened between us again. I thought I was over it but with all this stuff going on, it just brings up a lot of bad feelings that I just don't want to deal with right now."

"I understand. So, I guess that my attempt at trying to make you feel better failed miserably?"

"That's ok. Nothing would have worked anyway."

"Hmmm...so if talking isn't going to work, how about some ice cream?"

"Luke..."

"What? I'm serious. Let's get you out of here. You said it yourself, none of those people are going to care."

"I don't care about them either but I'm really not up to hanging out with everyone. I just want to get in bed and go to sleep."

"It's like 6 o'clock. C'mon. Just you and me. I'm not going to try and make you feel better anymore. If you don't want ice cream, just tell me what you want to do instead."

"How are we going to get out of here? I came with Larry and Peyt. I don't think that you drove either."

"Leave it to me. Will you come?"

"I don't know..."

"Do you really want to stay here?"

"No..."

"Didn't think so. Why don't you go say bye to your aunt and meet me in front in 5 minutes?"

"I can't Luke, your mom, Keith, Haley and Nathan came all the way over here for me and I'm just going to bail without seeing them?"

"You can. It's okay, they'll understand. I'll make them understand. You don't owe any of us anything."

"Ok..."

"Good. I'll see you in five minutes."

Brooke sighed and went inside. She found her aunt and uncle and made her excuses, saying she wasn't feeling well but she would see them at the funeral in the morning. Her aunt looked angry at her but she shrugged it off and waited for Lucas by the front door.

'What are you doing Brooke? You can't let him in again.'

She was fighting an internal battle with herself but she as she found many times when it came to Lucas, her heart overruled her head.

Lucas, meanwhile, found his friends and family still bunched up in the same corner as he had left him. Keith, Nathan and Larry looked like they were ready to fall asleep while Karen, Peyton and Haley were talking about what sounded like Brooke.

"Lucas, where have you been?" his mom questioned him.

"Umm...I went to go check on Brooke."

"Did you...?" Karen started.

"Yes, mom, I said I was sorry for how I acted."

"Is she okay?" Heley asked.

"Not really, which is why I'm back. Nate, do you think you guys think that you can get a ride back with Larry or Keith? I need to borrow your car."

"I guess, where are you going?" Nathan answered.

"I need to get Brooke out of here. She's not doing so well."

"Be careful, son. I know you mean well. Just remember she's really fragile right now."

"Are you sure you should be the one doing this Lucas?"Peyton asked remembering her conversation with her best friend earlier in the day.

"No, but I want to be the one doing it," he answered firmly, his eyes pleading with them to understand and let him do this.

Peyton nodded her head. "Take care of her, kay?"

"I will. I promise. I'll see you guys."

Nathan handed him his keys and he found Brooke exactly where he asked her to meet him.

"Did your aunt say anything about you leaving?"

"She wanted to but she didn't."

"Let's go. Nate let us use his car. He and Haley are going to ride back with Peyton."

She nodded her head and followed him out to the car. She gave him a weak smile as he opened the door for her and then ran around to get into the driver seat. He looked over expectedly with a small smile of his own.

"So, where to?"

"Ummm...actually, ice cream doesn't sound so bad."

"Ice cream it is."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we just pretend like none of this is happening? Just for a couple hours?"

"Anything you want."

"Thank you."

Lucas drove them to a nearby Ben and Jerry's. They ordered thier usuals, Chocolate Fudge Brownie for her, Phish food for him and took a table in the corner.

"So...how do you like UCLA?"

"I like it. It's a nice campus. It's so different out there. Here, I feel like a big fish in a small pond. There, I'm like a guppy in the Atlantic."

Lucas had to give a small chuckle. She always had her own way of words. His laugh made her smile broaden a little bit and for the first time in years, he saw those dimples. 'God, are those dimples are cute.'

"What are you majoring in?"

"Don't laugh. I'm actually an architeural design major."

"Wow, that's amazing Brooke."

"How about you?"

"I'm doing sports medicine. Since, I can't play anymore, I still want to be around it you know?"

"Peyton told me about the HCM. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I'm as healthy as I've ever been. I just have to stick to pick-up games from now on but it's ok. I can live vicariously through Nate."

"I've caught a couple of his games on TV. You guys knocked us out of the tournament last year."

"That was an awesome game."

"Peyton told me that Jake was coming down tomorrow. Have you kept in touch with him?"

"Yeah, especially since he and Peyton are officially going out again, I've seen him more. It's nice. But, we missed you, you know? It's like we were missing something."

"I think I know what you mean. I've met a lot of people in California but they just couldn't understand me because they weren't apart of it."

She started telling him about some of the people she met in California and some of the new things that she had tried. Sticking to the neutral topics, before they knew it, it was getting late. The workers were looking eager for them to leave so they decided to call it a night. He drove her back to Peyton's and then insisted on walking her to the door. She turned to him and for a moment, she let herself get lost in his blue eyes again. She ended up throwing her arms around him and he tightened his arms around her and turned into her hair.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I want you to be alright, Brooke."

"I know. As crazy at is seems, I think I needed to have that little breakdown."

"Can I...um...I mean, would you mind if I took you to the funeral tomorrow? I'd really like to be there for you, if you'd let me."

"Um...ok. I guess that would be ok."

"I'll be here early."

"Night Lucas."

"Night Brooke."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Brooke lay awake the next morning feeling exhausted. When she came in the evening before, Larry and Peyton had already gone to bed so whe went up to her guest room and stared at the ceiling. No matter how hard she tried to fall asleep, her mind without fail would wander over to certain memories that she had with her parents. Some were good, like the time that they had taken her to Disney World when she was eight or the time they came and saw her first ballet recital. Others were bad, like the time they promised to be there for her sixteenth birthday but instead, she woke up to her new car with a card and apology saying that something came up and they needed to be at some fundraiser in Hawaii instead.

She tried to count sheep, she drank some warm milk, she tried to watch some television but nothing worked. So now it was finally morning and all she wanted to do was stay in bed and close her eyes. She knew she couldn't though. She had an early start to the day. She groaned as she threw off her covers and she felt the cold morning hit her. She took an extra long and hot shower to try and release some of the tension that she was feeling in her body and she then she got ready for the funeral. For once in her life, she really didn't feel like putting much an effort in what she looked like which was ironic considering she knew that everyone was going to be focusing on her today. She decided ona simple short sleeve black blouse, tailored black jacket and skirt set and round toe heels. Her hair was in a simple low ponytail and her makeup was very subtle. It was the total opposite of her normal look that she shook her head at herself in disappointment.

When she was done getting dressed, she went downstairs where Larry was sitting at the table drinking some coffee and reading the paper. He was already dressed in simple black suit with black time. He lowered his paper and gave her an encouraging smile as he heard her come into the kitchen.

"Morning B, have some breakfast. I made your favorite, chocolate chip pancakes."

"Thanks Larry."

She picked at her food, barely able to eat half a pancake and a slice of toast.

"Brooke, honey, please eat something. You have to take care of yourself."

"I know. I just haven't had much of an appetite lately."

"I know that you've got a lot being thrown at you right now, but I need you to remember that there are so many people who love you Brookie. They need you just as much as you need us. I wouldn't want to lose you too, kay?"

"Thanks Larry. I really appreciate everything that you guys have done for me since I've been back. I hope you know that. I don't know if I would have been so nice if I were in you position."

"Yes you would. I know you Brooke. You have one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. Consider it payback. You helped my baby when she was so lost. Without you, I don't know if she would be here with me right now. We just want to do the same for you. I know that things aren't looking so good for you right now, but I have no doubt, none whatsoever, that you are going to do some amazing things Brooke Davis."

"How can you be so sure? I mean, I'm so lost right now, I can barely tell my left from right."

"That's natural. I know that you parents were't around too much until recently but they were still your parents. I would be worried if you weren't take this so hard. You just have to take it one day at a time. It's cliche but time really does heal all wounds. It's not going to take away all the pain but it will numb it enough where you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I promise."

Brooke let his words sink in a little bit as Peyton came in and sat to have breakfast too. She was wearing black slacks, with a white blouse and black blazer. She gave Brooke's hand a comforting squeeze before starting on her coffee and waffles. A peaceful silence came over the room as they finished up their breakfast. Brooke was helping to clean up, despite Peyton's objections when the doorbell rang. Peyton shoved Brooke away as she tried to help wash the dishes.

"Why don't you go and see who's at the door?"

Brooke rolled her eyes and went to answer the door and found Lucas uncomfortably adjusting his tie. She was expecting him but she was also suprised to see Jake standing next to him. An involuntary smile came to her face as she recognized him and he stepped forward to give her a hug.

"Hey Brooke, I'm so sorry."

"Hi Jake, It's good to see you. You really didn't have to make this trip down just for this."

"Yes, I did. I want to be here."

"Wow, did you guys bring some dark glasses? You guys could totally be the Men In Black in those suits!" Peyton joked as she came into the room as well. She came up to Luke and gave him a quick hug before she settled into Jake's arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey you."

"Hey yourself."

Brooke couldn't help but be happy with the scene. She knew how heartbroken was when Jake left, she was happy that Peyton was able to find some happiness.

"So, where's Jenny? Peyton has been telling me about how big she is now."

"She's at my parents house. She's a little to hyper to bring to a funeral but I'll definately bring her by later on."

"I'd really like that. Hey Lucas."

She finally got her attention to Lucas who had been silent as everyone tried to get reacquainted.

"Hey Brooke."

"I have to say that even though Peyton's right about the whole Men In Black thing, you two clean up really nicely in those suits. You should think of wearing them more often."

"Um, I think I'll pass on that," Lucase replied as he still looked uncomfortable in his tie.

"Come here. You didn't do it right. Did your mom see you before you left?" She redid it so that it wasn't choking him anymore.

"No," he blushed. "How are you feeling?"

"Kind of tired but I'll manage."

"Did you have breakfast?"

"Yes, dad. You sound like your mom and Larry."

"I can't help it. I worry about you."

"I'm fine. Really, but thank you for worrying."

"You don't have to thank me. I would worry even if you didn't want me to."

"I know you would. You really do live up to your nickname, Broody."

He couldn't help but get nostalgic about hearing her old nickname for him come out of her mouth. It brought him back to when they had been together. Even though, he had underlying feelings for Peyton, the whole time they were dating, it didn't mean that he didn't appreciate the short time that he had with Brooke. When it was just the two of them, he could escape all the drama that followed him. She was a breath of fresh air when it seemed like everything was against him. She pushed him to not take everything so seriously, to live life to the fullest. The things she was able to convince him to do made him shake his head in amazement even now.

"Hey, brooding and worrying are two very seperate things."

"Oh god, I know. Please don't give me the lecture again," Brooked laughed. It felt good to laugh.

"Fine. Just so long as we're clear. I am not brooding."

"Crystal clear, Broody."

He rolled his eyes at her and then noticed that Jake and Peyton had left them and gone into the kitchen with Larry.

"Looks like they've ditched us."

"C'mon. Do you want some coffee?"

"Sure, thanks.

They walked back into the kitchen where Jake was now eating some pancakes. Peyton and Larry were trying to figure out the driving arrangements.

"Rake boy, have some pancakes." Larry teased.

"Thanks, Larry," Lucase responded while shaking his head. "I actually had breakfast at home. You know how mom is, I don't get home too often so she's going a bit crazy with all the food."

"Understandable. You'd have to be a fool to turn down your mom's cooking, rake boy."

"I'm never going to live that down, huh?"

"Not anytime soon, son."

"See Luke, and you were complaining about Broody. My nickname for you is so much better than Larry's."

"For once, I would have to agree with you."

"Ok, back to business guys," Larry interuppted. "How are we all getting there? Did you guys drive seperately?" he asked, pointing to Lucas and Jake.

"Yes, sir," Jake answered with a mouthful of pancakes. Peyton slapped his arm and gave him a look as to say 'How gross!'

"Jake's going to ride with us Daddy."

"I see, so I assume that you'll be riding with rake boy, Brooke?"

"Yes, Larry, right Luke?"

"Right. Nathan, Haley and Deb and mom and Keith are going to meet us at the church."

"I actually think I better head over now. I told my aunt that I would be there early. Do you mind, Luke?"

"No, I'm ready when you are."

"Ok. Let me go grab my bag and I will be right out. I'll see you guys in a little bit."

As she was upstairs, Peyton looked at ther dad and Lucas with concern.

"She doesn't look so good. I don't think that she got much sleep last night. I heard her walking around and the tv was on."

"She'll be fine, honey. Brooke's a fighter."

"I know. I just wish that she would let us in more. She doesn't have to do this alone."

"She's had a lot of heartbreak to deal with, guys. I think that she's so used to being let down that she puts up this wall so that she can soften the blow. The only thing we can do is keep being there for her. Eventually, she'll get that trust again."

Brooke came down and found Lucas waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her.

"Luke, you didn't have to wait for me. I would have met you at the car."

"I know," he responded simply. "C'mon," he extended his hand out for her to help her with the last few steps. Brooke hesistantly took it and allowed him to lead her out to his truck. She followed behind him staring intently at their interlocked hands.

'It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything," she kept repeating in her head.

He helped her into the truck and then got into the driver's seat. The ride to the church was short. It was only five minutes away from Peyton's. As Lucas, parked in front of it, she caught sight of the open hearse as they were moving the two caskets inside. She gave out a gasp. Lucas looked over and his heart broke. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze but she didn't seem to notice.

"That's my mom and dad," she whispered. She looked over to Lucas and he noticed that her eyes were watering and she was biting her lip, a habit he knew she had when she was nervous or scared.

"Do you wanna go inside or do you wanna wait until everyone gets here? Peyt said she would only be a few minutes."

"Um...I'll go in now. My aunt is here. There's thier car."

"Ok."

He got out and came around to open her door. This time she didn't hesistate when he offerred her his hand. They walked into the church from the back and looked at the two caskets lined up in front with one big picture of her parents together behind them. Brooke looked just like her mom but her she got her dimples from her dad. They walked up the aisle towards where her aunt was talking to some church volunteers and Lucas could feel her start to get limp. He took his arm and brought it around her waist and leaned her against him to steady her. The closer they got to the front, the smaller her steps were getting. He held her up as she went to each casket and looked down at her parents.

"They don't look real. They look like mannaquins with all that make-up."

Lucas had expected her to cry but now he thought she had gone into shock. She just kept staring at her parents, not really saying anything. After a few minutes, her aunt came up to her and gave her a stiff hug and then pointed to the front pew where she was expected to sit. Brooke just gave a nod to awknowledge that she understood and kept staring into the caskets.

"Brooke, do you want to sit down for a little bit?"

"Ok."

He led her to where her aunt had pointed to earlier and eased her down. He took the seat next to her draped his arm over her shoulderto keep her close. In his head, he was praying that his mom would get there soon. He really didn't know what to do or say. All he did know was that he was helping her at all. After what seemed like an eternity, Larry Jake and Peyton arrived. They politely went up to view the caskets before Peyton sat down on Brooke's other side and held her hand. Jake and Larry found took seats a couple pews back. His mom and Keith came next. Keith went to sit with Larry and Jake while Karen asked Lucas to move over so she could sit next to Brooke. He moved over and let his mom take his seat and pull Brooke against her.

"How are you doing sweetie?"

"Ok."

"I just want you to know how proud of you I am. You are being so strong. I know that your parents are looking down right now and thinking about what a special daughter they have."

Brooke just nodded. Seeing that his mom was much better at comforting her than he was he, Lucas began to stand so that he could go sit next to Keith. Brooke saw the movement and her head whipped around.

"Luke, please don't go!" she cried.

He closed his eyes to stop the tears that were close and knelt down in front of her shaking her head and holding her hands to calm her down.

"I'm not going anywhere. I was just going to go take my seat with Keith. I'll be there the whole time."

"No! Please...please stay with me! I can't do this Luke, I need you next to me. Please."

"Of course he'll stay with you, right son?"

"I promise."

Karen gave Brooke one last squeeze and patted Lucas on the arm before giving him back his spot next to her. She stood and walked over to the others and took a seat with them. She began to quietly cry as she saw how Brooke breaking down. When she had first met Brooke, she was taken aback by how wild she was but as she got to know her, especially the few months that she was living in her house, she understood that Brooke was just using that as a shield. She really was a little girl at heart who just wanted some attention from her parents and when she couldn't get it from them, she thought she could replace it by getting it from others.

Finally, Haley and Nathan arrived with Deb. Nathan and Deb sat alongside Jake while Haley went over to Brooke and gave her a hug and sat alongside Lucas.

"How is she?" she whispered leaning into Lucas.

"Not so good. It's like she's in shock."

The service finally started. Her aunt and couple of her parents friends spoke about what good people they were. Brooke really wasn't paying attention to what was being said. She would stand and lean against Lucas when everyone else stood but pretty much she kept her eyes up front looking at the caskets and the picture of her parents. When it was done, the caskets were carried out to the hearse and she followed behind, Lucas holding her the entire way. Her aunt told her that she should ride in the limo with the family but she refused. She clung to Lucas' hand and he assured her that he would drive her to the cemetary.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Lucas followed the hearse and the limo with Brooke's aunt and her family in the slow procession to the cemetary. Brooke wasn't saying anything. She kept her eyes focused straight ahead to the back of the hearse. Lucas didn't want to push her but he drove with only his left hand so that he could she keep hold of his right in her lap.

"Lucas, I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you when Dan died in the fire. I should have come back for the funeral and been there for you just like you have been for me."

"Brooke, it's ok."

"But it's not. If I were any kind of friend, I would have been there. I was too scared to come back. Peyton was mad at me for like a month when I told her that I wasn't going to come. I gave her some sorry excuse like my parents wanted to spend some time with me and I had just gotten there. It was sort of true but I was hiding behind it so I wouldn't have to deal with how I left things with you."

"Dan's death was a little bit different. He was evil Brooke, and it was best for all of us that he was gone."

"He was still your dad. I'm sure that it was still hard for you."

"I was pretty confused for awhile but I made peace with it a long time ago, Brooke. You don't have to feel guilty about that."

"That's nice of you to say but it's not true. This may be too little too late, but it wasn't because I didn't care. Because I did. I never stopped. I was just too scared to face you. I had convinced myself that when I left, you had changed your mind and you didn't really want to be with me. I just couldn't go back there, Luke. I wasn't ready to be with you again and it wasn't because I didn't feel the same way. I thought that I was just setting myself up to have my heartbroken again. I'm sorry."

"Please don't say that. I don't deserve your apology. There's only one person to blame for that whole situation and it was me. Definately not you. Don't ever feel guilty for trying to protect yourself. I mean it. I think that's why I was so mad at you when I saw you at the cafe and the Rivercourt. I was making excuses so that I wouldn't feel guilty. You didn't owe me any kind of second chance two years ago, you don't owe me one now. I was an ass and I hid behind a lame excuse so that I wouldn't have to admit that I wasn't going to get you back because of my own stupidity."

"You're a good guy Luke. I forgave you a long time ago.I was naive to go into our relationship thinking that you could have gotten over Peyton so quickly. You shouldn't have to feel guilty anymore."

"That's really nice of you Brooke, but you're a constant reminder of why I should still feel guilty. Don't you ever wonder what if? I mean, I do. After you found out about what I had done, me and Peyton never even happened. I realized that I had just wasted our whole relationship for something I didn't even want."

"We can't live in what if, Luke."

"I know. It's just I remember how much I loved you when you left for California. You were the one, Brooke. I know that it's kinda hard to believe but I was convinced of it Brooke. I was a mess for so long after that."

"What? Peyton said that you had moved on, that you were ok."

"I never told her that stuff. I know that you were still in contact with her. I was so hurt, I didn't want you to know how much it affected me. I was stubborn."

"I think that is something that we both have in common. Can we just start over, Luke? I don't want to go another two years without you guys."

"You don't know how happy I am to hear that."

Brooke felt him come to a stop and realized that they had made it to the cemetary. She turned to her window and saw the piles of dirt next tothe gravesite. She got out of the car and waited for Lucas to catch up to her so she could take his hand. They walked over to one set of chairs that were set up in front of the caskets. She was given on of the chairs and he stood directly behind her with his hands on her shoulders so she could tell that he was still right there next to her. It wasn't a particularly bright day but she put on a pair of dark sunglasses. She had been holding it all in but she had a feeling she was close to breaking down now.

The service wasn't supposed to last very long. Her aunt had set it up so they would bury the caskets after everyone had left. Brooke was staring at the picture of her parents and then at the deep hole behind it. They were going to be buried in one plot just as they had wished. At one point, she was asked to get up and take flowers from one of the floral arrangements and lay them accross the caskets. She stood up and regretted that she wouldn't have Lucas to lean against for the first time all day. Her legs felt weak. As she got the two roses, she stepped in front of her dad's casket and placed it on top. She brought her hand up to her face, gave it a kiss and pressed it on top of the casket. She did the same for her mom. Getting back to her seat, she could feel his hand immediately grab hold of her shoulders again. She started to shake as the tears came back and she dropped her head down so that no one could see her crying. She could feel him rubbing her back comfortingly and handing her the handkerchief from his jacket pocket. The service ended and her aunt went to the front and thanked everyone for coming and invited everyone back to her house.

As everyone started filing back to their cars, Brooke remained in her seat. She was staring at her parents. 'How can I just leave them here?'

She didn't think about what she was doing, she just walked up to them again and knelt down in front of them. She broke down into sobs. "Mommy, Daddy, what am I supposed to do now? Please don't leave me! Where am I supposed to go? I don't have anyone left. Please! I haven't even graduated from college yet! I don't even know what I want to do! What am I supposed to do in California, all by myself? What am I supposed to do now? You promised! You guys promised that things were going to be different. You promised that you wouldn't leave me anymore. How could you break your promise again? What am I going to do...?"

Lucas wanted to go up to her and comfort her. He had started to walk to her but his mom pulled on his arm and shook her head.

"Mom, she needs me."

"She needs to say good-bye on her own, son. Just give her this time alone with her parents. She'll be ok."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but you're not going to be able to heal this, Luke. Let her get it all out."

"I can't stand seeing her like this mom."

"I know. It kills me too. You've done everything you could."

"It's not fair! Why does all this crap have to happen to her? She's never done anything to deserve any of it!"

"I wish that I could tell you that life was going to end up fair but you know that's not true."

"Mom, I think...I think that I still love her..."

"Seeing you with her the past couple days, I already knew that. Just be careful, son. She's so fragile right now. I don't think she should be making any life-altering decisions right now."

"That's exactly it. There's no way I can tell her this! It would be like when she left last time times a hundred."

"I'm not saying to never tell her. I'm asking you to wait until things have settled down for her a little bit. The funeral may be over but this is just the beginning. She's basically on her own now. It's not going to be easy for her."

"I have always had the worse timing when it came to her..."

"You'll get it right one day. Keith's waiting in the car. Get her to her aunt's house, kay?"

"I will. Thanks, mom...Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I love you. I don't say it enough but if I am going to do anything after all of this, it's to not take the people I love for granted."

"I love you too, Luke."

She pulled him into a hug. He was so much taller than her that he had to slouch down but he buried his face into his shoulder just like when he was a little kid. He finally pulled away and let her walk away. He turned to find Brooke still kneeling down on the grass. It looked like her crying had calmed down a bit so he took the chance to walk over to her.

"Brooke?"

"Huh?"

"Umm...I'll be right here whenever you're ready, kay?"

"Kay, I just need one more minute."

She turned back to the caskets and stood up. She touched them one last time.

"Bye Mommy, Bye Daddy. Take care of each other. I love you."

She walked over to Lucas and collapsed in his arms. He stood stood there rubbing her arms with his chin over her head. He could feel her tears soaking into his shirt.

"It'll be ok, Cheery. It'll be ok."

The sound of his old nickname for her shocked her back into reality. It didn't bring her the comfort that she usually associated with it.

"I'm ready, let's go."

He nodded. He could tell that there was a change in her. He could have sworn that he saw anger in her eyes for a second but she dropped her head so he could tell that she didn't want to talk anymore. He guided her to his truck and helped her in. They went to her aunt's house where her aunt arranged for caterers. As soon as they got there, it was like she wanted to get as far away from him as possible. She sought out Peyton and Haley and took them to a corner of the livingroom. He tried to ignore the nagging feeling, trying to convince himself that she was just overwhelmed by the whole day. He hung back with Jake and Nathan and listened half-heartedly to thier conversation regarding some classes that they were taking.

After awhile, he went and got some food. He knew that Brooke hadn't eaten sincve they arrived so he made her a plate as well and walked it over to her.

"Hey, I thought you could be hungry."

She looked up and took the plate from him and just nodded. Realizing that she wasn't going to say anything else, he excused himself to find Jake and Nathan again. Eventually, they were sitting in silence and waited until everyone started leaving before deciding it would be ok to leave now. They went and found the girls.

"You guys ready to head out? It looks like everyone is almost gone." Nathan asked when he saw that Lucas looked almost afraid to speak.

"Brooke, do you want to go home?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, I'm really tired."

"Ok, Luke, why don't you just drop her off at my house? Jake and I are going to go and pick up Jenny and meet you all there. My dad is going to get a ride with your mom and Keith."

"Umm...actually, I kind of just want to go to bed, if you guys don't mind. Can you and Jake just drop me off? I'm sorry. I'm not really up to hanging out tonight."

Lucas felt as if he was just punched in the gut. Peyton looked at him curiously as to silently ask him 'What happened?'

"Sure, whatever you want, Brooke. Let's go say bye to your aunt." Peyton led her away.

"Did you guys get in a fight, Luke?" Haley questioned.

"No. I don't know what happened."

"Maybe, it's just getting to be too much. I'm sure that she just needs to get some rest," Jake reasoned.

"Maybe," Lucas agreed but didn't sound too convinced.

When Peyton and Brooke got back, they all walked out to thier cars. Everyone took thier turnsgiving Brooke a hug. Lucas hung back and waited until everyone had already gone. He awkwardly walked over and pulled her into a hug. It definitely wasn't his imagination, she felt so stiff in his arms. He wanted to pull her aside and ask her what was wrong but he thought better of it.

"Bye Brooke."

"Bye."

She turned around quickly and got into the back seat of Jake's car and looked down into her lap. He shook his head as he walked to his truck and drove towards home.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Brooke ended up getting in bed once Jake and Peyton had dropped her off. Once she woke up, it was dark and she was hungry. She went downstairs and Peyton and Jake were on the sofa with Jenny sprawled across thier laps asleep, watching tv. Larry was in the recliner reading a paper.

"Hey, all rested? We were thinking of going to grab some food. Want to go?"

"Ok. I'm starving. Jake, she's gotten so big."

"I know. I want to keep her a baby but Peyton said that I can't," he pouted.

Peyton just rolled her eyes at him.

"She's gorgeous. You're going to have to keep her locked in her room until she's 21."

"Hah! Try thirty!"

"Jake..."

"What? She thinks that I'm joking. I'm not."

"Fine. So, c'mon. Up and at'em. I'm hungry. What are you up for, Brooke?"

"Whatever you guys want. You choose."

"Are you sure, because if it were up to me, I'm going to say Karen's," Peyton asked with her eyebrow quirked.

Brooke hated that Peyton still had the ability to read her so closely. She shrugged as if she didn't care when actually her heart started to race as soon as Peyton had said Karen's. Karen's meant a very high chance of running into Lucas.

"Karen's it is then!" Peyton yelled before she could change her mind.

"Why don't you guys leave Jenny here? She just went down. I'll watch her," Larry offered.

"Thanks, Larry."

"You won't be thanking me when I stuff her with sugar and send her home with you! I can never say no to those big puppy dog eyes she gives me," Larry said, laughing.

"Daddy!"

"What? I'm like an honorary grandpa. It's my job to spoil her."

"Bye, dad. We won't be out too late."

They walked out to Jake's car. Peyton turned to face Brooke and Jake started driving.

"Last chance to choose another place, Brooke."

"Karen's is fine, Peyt," Brooke said more to convince herself than Peyton. She hated how she had totally freaked out on Lucas earlier but she couldn't stop herself. When Lucas had called her "Cheery," she went on the defensive. 'I'm bieng ridiculous. He didn't mean anything by it.Why should I act any different if I see him.'

Unfortunately, the ride to the cafe was extremely short. Before she knew it, they were walking in and grabbing a booth. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he wasn't there. Karen came over to ask them what they were having.

"Where is everyone Karen?"

"Where else? Luke and Nate dragged Haley to watch them play basketball one last time before they have to head back."

"Shh! Not in front of Jake."

"Too late, Peyt. Luke already texted me earlier."

"Oh."

"Well, I have to get back to work. Let me know if you guys need anything else," Karen said before heading back behind the counter.

"So Jake, give me the details. What have you been up to the last three years?"

"Well, the condensed version is I found Nikki and Jenny and it took me all of Senior year to win custody of Jenny. Nikki may have been a bad mother but her parents have a lot of money. They were able to pay to drag it on and on. There were times where I didn't think that I could win but I couldn't giver her up, you know? Finally, Nikki got bored with it all or she grew a heart. I really don't care why but she signed away her maternal rights. I got my GED and ended up at Wake Forest. I have some financial aid so I don't have to work too much and there's free daycare at school so it's working out right now. When things had settled down, I contacted Peyton and Lucas again and I think you can see what happened from there."

"That is so sweet. I am so glad for you guys."

"What about you? What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into in California, Brooke?"

"Why does everyone think I got in trouble?"

Peyton and Jake just gave her straight faces that made Brooke laugh.

"Fine, fine. I went a little crazy the beginning of Senior year but I calmed down enough to get into UCLA. I'm majoring in architectural design - I want to design pretty houses. I dunno. It's pretty cool. I've made some nice friends but it's not home."

"Why didn't you come back, Brooke?" Peyton finally drew the courage to ask. "Didn't you miss us?"

"Every day. I guess it was just easier to miss you guys than to come back and deal with all the drama. And my parents were actually there, you know? It was nice even if it was only for a little while."

"Are you going to be ok going back by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I mean, I've been living in my own apartment since last year. Besides, I practically grew up all by myself."

"But you don't have to, you know?"

"Honestly, I was so close to going to Duke too. I got accepted and I even filled out the confirmation but the day I was supposed to mail it, I had this feeling that I needed to stay. Looking back, I'm glad that I did. Some of the best memories I have of my parents are from the last two years."

"Do you think that you might move back, maybe after graduation?"

"I really haven't thought that far ahead. Being there, I could hide in this little bubble. Now that I am here, of course I get those nostalgic feelings."

"When do you go back?" Jake asked curiously.

"Well, my dad's lawyer is still based in Tree Hill. I need to meet with him to figure out some stuff. I was supposed to meet with him Monday but he asked if I could reschedule for Wednesday. I'll buy a ticket for Thursday probably."

"Why don't you hold off until next Sunday? You're not going to want to go back to class Friday anyway," Peyton whined. "It'll give us a couple more days."

"You guys can't skip that much school for me."

"We won't have to. Come back to school with us on Sunday. I'll drive you back on Wednesday. We'll go back that night and you can fly out of Durham. Please?"

"I dunno. I already asked Karen if I could stay with her when you and your dad leave."

"Karen won't mind."

"Karen won't mind what?" Karen asked as she came back with thier food.

"You won't mind if Brooke decided that she didn't need to stay with you anymore because she wants to visit her oldest and best friends at Duke for the week?"

"Oh, no I actually wouldn't. I think that sounds like a great idea. I won't be offended if you want to spend a few more days together."

"I'll think about it. I have a couple days before you head back."

"Yay."

"How about you Jake, how long are you in town?"

"Sunday, I wanna give my parents some time to spend with Jenny. They've really missed her."

It didn't take the three of them too long to eat their food. Brooke took the opportunity to get the gossip about some of her old friends. Apparently Skills and Bevin were still together and were currently going to UNC - Chapel Hill. Mouth and Erica Marsh had broken up the summer Brooke had left. Mouth had gone to Columbia and was majoring in Broadcasting. Tim had taken the junior college route the first two years but he had since transferred to the University of Miami where Peyton said he was partying as much as ever. When Brooke knew the whereabouts of practically everyone in their class and was satisfied, they decided it was ok to leave. They said thier good-byes to Karen and headed out. Brooke told them that she was really tired and she would pass on the Rivercourt so they dropped her off at Peyton's.

She checked in on Larry and Jenny who were currently watching a dvd of Cinderella. She spent a few minutes introducing herself to Jenny who was really shy and hid behind Larry. Brooke understood and told Larry that she was going to turn in. She got upstairs and fell asleep quickly, the previous week catching up to her.

Peyton and Jake arrived at the Rivercourt and found Lucas and Nathan playing horse, with Haley sitting on top of the picnic table cross-legged looking incredibly bored. Jake immediately ran onto the court and they boys started a new game of horse. Peyton went to the table to a relieved looking Haley.

"Finally! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, we went to get some dinner at Karen's and then Brooke asked for us to drop her off at my house. She's really tired."

"Is she tired or is she hiding from Lucas again?"

"You noticed that too, huh?

"Just a little. Did she say anything?"

"No, we didn't really talk about any of it. I'm trying to convince her to come up with us on Sunday and then go back to California next Sunday."

"Do you think she will go for it?"

"I think so. Do you notice that she doesn't really talk about California? If she does, it's really vague."

"I did notice that. I thought it was just me."

"You don't think that were trying to make something out of nothing do you? Maybe I'm just hoping that she's not happy there so that she'll come back here."

"Maybe. Did she tell you what's going on with Lucas? She wouldn't let him leave her the whole day and then she went cold and won't even talk to him."

"She didn't say anything and I didn't know how to bring it up."

"Luke's not saying anything either but I can tell that he's really sad. He barely ate anything when we had dinner earlier. Nate says to mind my own business but I think that he's finally admitted to himself that he's not over her yet so he's hurt that she's pushing him away."

"I totally agree with you. I never believed him when he said that he had moved on but seeing him now, I'm sure of it."

"Should we even do anything? She's going back to California. They'll be exactly where they were before."

"Yeah, I think we should just let it be for now and see what happens in the next week. Who knows with those two?"

"Isn't it crazy how we're like scheming to get them together now? Remember when we first became friends? They had started dating and I thought that he should have been with you instead."

"God, what we're we thinking?"

"I don't know! So, what are the plans for tomorrow? I think we need a girls day. We can meet up with the guys at night, maybe a movie night?"

"I'll run it by Brooke and give you a call in the morning. I don't think she has anything planned except for her meeting with that lawyer."

"Is she going to be ok, like money-wise? I know that her dad must have been doing pretty well in California but how does that work out for Brooke?

"I think that's what the trip to the lawyer's is supposed to be for. My dad and Karen talked to him a little bit yesterday because they were worried about that too. He said that there was a lot to sort out but Brooke's grandparents had left her a trust fund that her parents couldn't touch, even when they were having those financial problems. She would have access to it when she turns 20, which is only 2 months away. He couldn't disclose how much it was worth but he said that Brooke would be fine. They're both going to the meeting on Wednesday."

"That's good to know. I remember how hard it was to get by when we first got married and Deb was still mad at us. With work and school, we barely had time to talk. I'm glad she doesn't have to worry about that at least."

The guys chose that moment to come join them at the table and they both nodded to silently agree that they would change the subject.

"So what where you guys talking about?" Nathan asked, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat off.

"We were just trying to figure out what we're going to do with the rest of our time at home," Haley answered.

"What did you come up with?" asksed Lucas, as he took a seat on the other side of the table so he could grab a bottle of water.

"We decided that Brooke, Haley and I are going to have a girls day tomorrow. We'll meet you guys tomorrow night and we can watch some movies."

"What are we supposed to do until then?" Jake asked confused.

"I dunno. What do you guys always do when we're not around?" Haley asked.

"Play basketball," Nathan said plainly.

"Sometimes we play Playstation?" Luke challenged.

"Wow guys, that is just sad." Peyton laughed.

"So who won?" Haley asked.

The guys looked at each other and all shrugged. Peyton and Haley rolled their eyes. "So you mean to tell me that I've been sitting her for three hours for a game that didn't mean anything," she asked knowing full well the answer since this is what they always did. She shook her head in mock anger. Nathan, used to this from his wife, just wrapped his arm around her.

"Seriously though, what's the plan? I'm only here every so often." Jake argued.

"Are you guys sure you don't want us to come along with you guys?" Nathan asked.

"Ummm...yeah. Girls day usually entails shopping, manicures, pedicures, facials, and gossip. I don't know if you would really enjoy that. Besides, we want a chance to talk to Brooke."

"Hales, what did I tell you?" Nathan asked her with a pointed look.

"What? We're not going to do anything. We just want some time to hang out with her until she goes back to California."

"Are you sure that's it? You're not trying to make her see how much she misses it here so she doesn't want to go back?"

"Were you eavesdropping on our conversation?" Haley huffed.

"No, but you pretty much confirmed that you guys are plotting." Nathan fought back.

"We are not plotting. We're just doing some wishful thinking."

"Hales..."

"Fine."

"You guys act like your an old married couple." Lucas pointed out.

"We are a married couple," Nathan stated confused.

"The operative word in my sentence was _old._ You bicker like an _old _married couple."

"We are not old!" they both yelled at once, causing thier friends to laugh.

"You're all just jealous." Nathan argued, but quickly shut his mouth when he realized how they could take it. He didn't want Lucas thinking that he meant that he was jealous because he and Haley were so in love. It was his automatic reply to a lot of things. Luckily, it looked like Lucas didn't take offense to it, or if he had, he was pretending like he hadn't.

Jake sensing what had just happened suddenly stood and grabbed Peyton's hand, indicating that he thought it was time to go.

"It's been fun guys, but I got up really early with a four year old singing Disney songs, I need to grab some sleep."

"Yeah, it has been a pretty long day. We should head home too." Nathan agreed.

They said thier good-byes and went to thier respective homes to turn in for the night.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Peyton let Brooke sleep in a little before filling her in on Haley and her plans for the day. Brooke actually looked excited to be doing something normal and readily agreed. They got dressed and drove over to Deb's house to pick up Haley. Suprisingly, Nathan was already gone. Haley said something about Lucas and Jake showing up very early and kidnapping her husband with a promise that they would all meet at Peyton's for take out and dvd's later on that night as she got into the back seat of Peyton's car.

"Where exactly did they go?"

"They were intent to prove that they weren't losers like you called them yesterday. I think they went to some car show that Jake found out about in the newspaper this morning."

"Wait. Why did you call them losers?" Brooke asked confused.

"Because when we told them that it was a girls only day, they said that the only things that they did when we weren't around was play basketball or Playstation."

"Ahhh..."

Peyton drove them to the mall where they had a nice lunch and then did a little shopping. Normally, Brooke got so excited about shopping but she was being very reserved. Once they had walked the entire mall and had bought more junk food than anything else, they decided to head of to the day spa where they got facials, manicures and pedicures. The conversation was intentionally light but comfortable. Brooke seemed to be the most relaxed since she had gotten into town so Peyton and Haley were going to try and keep that going and push thier curiousity aside for the time being.

Suprisingly, Brooke had sensed thier hesitance, so she decided to bring up the subject herself. She was curious herself and wanted to see what kind of perspectives Peyton and Haley had on her current situation. So as they sat getting the manicures and pedicures with thier face masks on, she decided the time was a good a time as any.

"So guys...I know that there's a subject you've both been avoiding all day. I was kind of hoping that we could talk about it."

"Oh, thank god! I didn't think I could hold it in any longer!"

"Haley!" both Peyton and Brooked yelled but couldn't help laughing.

"What? You know you were dying too, Peyton? Don't you even lie and say that you haven't been thinking about it too." Haley accused.

"Fine," Peyton said rolling her eyes.

"You guys are crazy. But thank you for showing so much control and letting me bring it up when I was ready."

"Yeah, yeah. Now, that you have, what's going on?"

"Ok, so I don't know if you guys noticed but ever since we left the cemetary yesterday, things have been kind of distant between Lucas and me."

"We noticed," Peyton said quickly. "Luke looked like his dog had just run away. What happened?"

"I freaked out. Like I always do. He called me 'Cheery'..."

"And..." Haley trailed.

"And I told you, I freaked out," Brooke responded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Haley and Peyton looked at each other to see if the other had figured it out but they both shrugged.

"Huh?" They both asked.

"Ugh...I don't know. Hearing him call me that again, it just brought back all these emotions. I mean obviously he called me that when we were dating so I jumped to the conclusion that he...I dunno, still has feelings for me or something. I'm making something out of nothing, right?"

Haley and Peyton looked at each other again but didn't say anything.

"Would you guys stop having silent conversations with each other? I'm wrong right?"

"Ummm..."

"I...uh...I dunno. Maybe."

"Not helping you guys."

"Would it be a bad thing if you were right?"

"Well yeah! I mean, it would just make things so complicated. I'm leaving in a couple days. The last thing I need is for him to declare his love for me as I get in the cab again. It's gonna be a repeat of last time and we all saw how well that turned out."

"Why would it have to be the same? Would you just leave again and not call again?" Peyton asked angrilly.

"No, I'm really sorry about that guys. I apologized to Luke, I don't know if I've properly apologized to you. I already promised myself that I wouldn't lose touch with you guys again when I go back."

"You better not," Peyton said more relaxed.

"Getting off track here guys," Haley pointed out. "Luke, Cheery, freaking out."

"Right, so as I was saying, I can't go there with him again."

"Why not?" they said in unison again.

"Wow. Are you guys sharing a brain now? Because, it just wouldn't work. One, there's the whole long distance thing. Two, all this stuff happened over two years ago. Just because I was in love with him then, doesn't mean I'm in love with him now. I barely know him now. And three, I'm still scared. I really don't think that he would do anything like what happened last time but I can't put myself out there like that again."

"Would you really take that risk? I know that it hurt, Brooke. Don't think for a minute that I don't think that what happened to you wasn't awful but can you see what would happen if it worked out? It could be the best thing that could ever happen to you." Haley reasoned.

"I agree," Peyton said nervously. "Look, I know I am the worst person to be giving you advice about Lucas, considering...but I see how you guys have been looking at each other. It's not nothing. Not for him and not for you. I love both you guys and I want you both to be happy. I think you would be...together."

"I can't. Don't you get it? You guys, Nate, Jake...Luke...you're all I have left. If it doesn't work out, I really will have nothing. I have friends in California, but it's not the same. They can't understand because they're weren't apart of my life here and as much as I want to deny it and try to move on, my life here is what makes me who I am. I know that I haven't been here for the last two years but I can honestly say that I am still closer to you than anyone there. I can't risk it. If it doesn't work out..."

"How can you lose us?" Haley asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You're all tied to Luke, You're his best friend. Nate's his brother. Jake's his friend. Karen and Keith are his parents. He's one of your closest friends. I get that you're going to go with him if it ended badly."

"You're still my best friend, Brooke. Hoe's over bro's remember? I would never jeopardize that again."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm not jeopardizing it again."

"It's not the same."

"It is. Besides, this is all pointless. We're debating it based on an assumption that he may still have feelings for me again. Honestly, it could be easy to mistake his behavior lately to just who he is. He's always trying to make everyone feel better.That's just who he is. He's like Superman, he likes to save people."

"You make it sound like a bad quality."

"No, I definitely don't mean it that way. It's one of the things that made me fall for him in the first place. My point is, I don't want to be the kind of girl that needs saving. I want to be able to save myself."

"And that right there, is why I think he's in love with you."

"Haley!"

"What?"

"Maybe you need to be having this conversation with Lucas?"

"Yeah, I can see it now. 'So Lucas, how's it going? Are you still in love with me? No? Ok, well see ya around!' I don't think so!" Brooked insisted shaking her head.

"What if I talked to him for you?" Haley asked.

"Haley James-Scott! Don't you dare!"

"Fine," Haley mumbled.

"We're ignoring an important question here," Peyton interrupted.

"What's that?" Brooke asked turning to her.

"Are you still in love with him? We've covered that you're scared to be with him but you never said if you wanted to be with him."

"Of course not, how could I be in love with someone who I haven't seen in so long? I may be in love with being in love him because when it was good, it was good but I'm not in love with him."

"Now, whose sharing a brain?"

"Huh?"

"That's the same argument Lucas has been trying to convince us with for years."

"Let me guess. You two don't believe him."

"Ding, ding, ding."

"You guys are being impossible."

"We're not some fairytale. Our love can't transcend time, death and distance."

"Why not? When you have the real thing it will. Look at me and Jake."

"Why do I get the feeling you two aren't going to stop until I talk to Lucas."

"She finally got it Peyt!"

"Ugh, I hate you guys."

"You love us."

"What if he doesn't still have feelings for me. I'd be humilated."

"Trust us, Brooke. If I had any doubts, I wouldn't be pushing you so much. I just really believe that you guys are meant to be together." Peyton insisted.

"Tutorwife?"

"Me too. I wouldn't set you up to get hurt, Brooke. Please trust me about that."

"I'll think about it."

"That reminds me. Did you think about going to Duke with us for the week and going home next Sunday?"

"Yeah, I bought my ticket this morning. I fly out of Durham Sunday morning."

"Great, you're going to love it so much, you're not gonna want to leave!"

Brooke shook her head at her friends who were grinning from ear to ear. 'How could I stay away from them for so long?' she asked herself.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Meanwhile, the guys had driven a couple cities over to check out the car show that Jake had read about. Wanting to do something different so that the girls wouldn't laugh at them, Lucas and Nathan quickly agreed. As they were walking, they talked about the usual, basketball, school and Jenny. Finally, the topic that Lucas knew was coming but wasn't really looking forward to came up. They avoided it while playing basketball because they couldn't play and talk about it without Peyton or Haley overhearing. Lucas had gone home and tossed and turned. Just after he had admitted to his mom that he was still in love with Brooke, she was running away again. 'How could she have even known what he was feeling anyway?'

"So, what's the deal with you and Brooke, dude?" Nathan asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you hear this, Jagelski? What do you mean, what do I mean?"

"I mean, what do you mean by what's the deal with me and Brooke?"

"Ok, I may not be the smartest guy here...Ok, I admit, I may be the dumbest guy here at the moment but even I could see that you guys had been stuck like glue to each other at the beginning of the day and then at the end, you barely said two words to each other."

"I gotta agree with Nate on this one, Luke. It was pretty obvious."

"Fine, to answer your question, I don't know. She barely said anything when we drove to the cemetary to her aunt's house so I don't know what I could have done to get her mad at me."

"I didn't think she was mad at you. Just distant," Jake reasoned.

"Why don't you talk to her about it?" Nathan asked.

"And say what? Um, Brooke, I know that you're parents just died and all but I wanna know why you're not talking to me? That's so gay, Nate!"

"So you'd rather she ignore you?"

"She's kinda going through a hard time if you didn't notice. I don't want to add to it by being some clingy ass."

"Fine then, let's forget about that issue. Are you still in love with her?"

Lucas sighed, debating whether he should answer honestly.

"Yes."

"What?" Nathan screamed.

"What the hell? Why did you ask if you didn't think I would answer that?"

"Honestly, I thought you'd lie. Start off on you're whole, I'm over her, I'm over it speech. When did you get out of denial?"

"I dunno. I told my mom yesterday. Do you think that I'm an idiot for still being in love with her even though it's been so long?"

"Why would you say that?" Jake asked.

"Because it's been over two freaking years and I've seen her two days since. How can you love someone you don't know anymore?"

"You do realize that Peyton and I went through the exact same thing, right?"

"It's not the same though. You had to leave, you didn't choose to leave."

"Neither did Brooke."

"Her parents may have made her go to California, but they didn't force her to not visit, write or call."

"I thought you weren't mad anymore."

"I'm not mad. I'm just annoyed at myself for still feeling this way. She's made it pretty clear that she doesn't want to be with me, why can't I let her go?"

"Maybe you're not supposed to. Maybe you're supposed to keeping fighting for her until you break that wall down."

"You know she's driving up to Durham with us for the week right? At least that's what Haley and Peyton are trying to convince her of today. "

"I kinda heard bits and pieces last night. It's fine. I'm not going to do anything. We'll hang out, maybe be friends again. She'll go back and I'll try to move on...again."

"Cause that worked out so well the last time."

"Jake!"

"What? It's my observation."

"Arghh! Can we please drop this?"

"Ok, I think you should have this conversation with Brooke anyway," Nathan stated before walking away with Jake to see if they could sign up to test drive some of the cars.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Everyone met back at Peyton's house later on that evening. The guys supplied chinese take-out and ice cream while the girls rented "Wedding Crashers" because comedies were the only kind of movies that all six of them could ever agree on. With all the talking that they had done earlier that day, it seemed that everyone was content on just relaxing, eating and watching the movie, with only an occasional burst of laughter.

Brooke looked around and rolled her eyese as she found that Jake and Peyton had started to make out and Haley and Nathan had actually fallen asleep. She stole a quick glance at Lucas who seemed to be focusing on the movie. She was having an internal argument with herself. They didn't say much more than a greeting when they first saw each other and had pretty much ignored each other ever since. She felt guilty knowing that if he wasn't trying to talk to her, he must have sensed her change in attitude. She debated between just going up to bed, continuing to pretend like nothing was bothering her or talking to him like Haley and Peyton had told her to do.

Lucas was having his own internal dilema. He was sure that she was mad at him but he tried to rewind everything that had happened the last twenty-four hours and couldn't figure out what he could have done to make her mad at him. He wanted nothing more than to drag her to another room and demand her to tell him what was going on before he went crazy but he knew that would just drive her away even more. He decided to just let it go and turned his anger onto Jake and Nathan. He had driven over with them so there was no way he could just go home until they decided to go. From the looks of it, Jake and Peyton, were going to make use of every second they could since they hadn't seen each other in a few weeks and Haley and Nathan were knocked out. He knew from experience, that they could both sleep through anything so he would have to wait until Peyton and Jake decided to detach themselves from each other and that wasn't going to be anytime soon. He noticed that the movie had ended and Brooke was stirring.

"I'm gonna turn in," Brooke said to no one in particular before heading upstairs.

Jake and Peyton made some kind moan that may have been a "good-night" before resuming thier make-out session. Not really wanting to be alone with them, he decided to head outside to think by himself. It was a pretty nice night for late fall. He took a seat on Peyton's steps. He focused on trying to clear his head. He couldn't believe how a couple days in Tree Hill could just bring him back to right where he was two years ago. It was like his time at Duke hadn't even happened, which was crazy because it hadn't exactly been calm when they had all left for a week. He had a couple papers on due the next week and a midterm on Wednesday and ever since he had gotten home, his books had remained in his backpack in the corner of his room, untouched. He groaned now that it all came back to him, making a promise to study a little the next day, thier last day at home.

In addition to school, he had against his better judgement, joined a fraternity, Sigma Delta Epsilon, because Nathan didn't want to pledge alone. He had actually enjoyed it and ended up living at the frat house this year. He had roomed with Nathan in the dorms the year before, as he and Haley were working on their marriage after a rough senior year. Haley and Peyton had roomed together as well but when they all decided that one year of dorm life was enough for them. Nathan and Haley had gotten an apartment together and Peyton found an apartment with her friend Katie. Lucas had bonded with a lot of the guys in the frat so it was an easy decision to take his own room in the house. It was fall quarter though, so there was a lot of initiation activites scheduled and Lucas was expected to particpate in as many as possilble. There was dinner for their pledges on Friday that he had to attend as well take a date. He sighed thinking how Brooke's presence on campus for the week was going to affect that. 'For such a small town, Tree Hill sure brings a lot of drama' he thought.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the opening of the door. Relieved, he thought it was Jake, Nathan and Haley ready to go home but he turned, onlyto be shocked to find Brooke wearing her pajamas.

"Brooke, I thought you were going to sleep."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. You mind?" she asked gesturing to the empty spot next to him on the steps.

He shook his head and waited for her to settle down with a safe distance between them.

"Are Jake and Peyt...?"

"Yeah, still going at it like the end of the world was tomorrow."

"Great, I'm never gonna get home."

"Sorry, um... Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk for a sec?"

"Uh...sure. What did you want to talk about?"

"I think that the reason that I couldn't sleep is because I feel a little guilty so I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

Lucas had been looking at his feet as she spoke but when she was done, he looked up in confusion, his eyes squinting at her.

"I don't understand. What could you be sorry for?"

"I freaked out on you yesterday. You have been so sweet, helping me get through the funeral and everything. You've been brooding so I know that you think that you might of done something. I want you know that you haven't done anything wrong."

"What happened? I can't even figure out when it happened Brooke."

Brooked sighed. She knew that by telling him what had bothered her, she was going to either be humiliated beyond belief because she jumped to conclusions or it was going to open up a whole new can of worms because she was right."

"I know. I couldn't expect you to. I got scared."

"Of me? Why?"

"At the cemetary.You were telling me it was going to be okay and then you called me 'Cheery.' I freaked."

Lucas was shaking his hed, trying to figure out the logic in what happened. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything she decided to go ahead and explain herself.

"It shouldn't make sense, Luke. You should know me better by now," she joked. He cracked a weak smile and she continued. "Hearing you call me that again brought back memories of when we together and I panicked. It made me realise that you've still got a hold of this big part of me. We ended so badly, so quickly, I didn't have the chance to really heal. It's just like when I left last time, I had forgiven you and Peyton, but I've never really forgotten how much it hurt. I get scared just thinking about something happening again, I don't know how I could handle even trying. There. I know it may be two years too late but you deserve it none the less."

"You just said that you get scared, as in present tense, not you got scared, past tense. Does that mean that you still think about us that way or I mean us being that way again?"

"I dunno Luke. I don't know if it's me, if it's this place, if it's just nostalgia. That's not something I can answer right now. You may have also noticed that I didn't ask you if you meant anything more by calling me that again and I didn't ask if you wanted to be an us again. That's not something I can handle right now. I'm freaking out over nicknames, who knows what can happen if something really big happened?"

Luke nodded his head to let her know that he understood. The conversation started with Brooke admitting her guilt. As it continued, Lucas' own guilt was growing. She was apologising but if he hadn't screwed up so badly she wouldn't have to deal with a lot of these trust issues that she had now. He had unconciously started rubbing circles on her back and scooted over so that they were right next to her. He was just glad that she didn't pull away this time.

"I'm sorry, Brooke."

"I know. It wasn't my intention to make you feel bad. I'm really looking forward to being able to let go of all these bad feelings because you have proven it to me over and over again that you're a good guy. I hope one day, my heart catches up with my head."

"I believe in you. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"Thanks, Luke. I'm glad that you're back in my life. I really did miss you."

"I missed you too."

He leaned over and took her into his arms, silently promising that he was going to protect her from now on. He wan't going to force her to love him but he hated seeing how much hurt she was carrying around and he just wanted her to be happy again.

"C'mon, let's get inside. It's getting late and I really need to get home. I'm gonna pry Jake away from Peyton and wake up the old married couple."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

The next day Brooke actually got to rest a little bit. Peyton had left early to spend the day with Jake and Jenny since they were all leaving pretty early the next morning. Nathan and Haley had said that Deb was taking them to some luncheon that they didn't want to go to but she wouldn't take no for an answer. Lucas had said that he needed to catch up on some studying. They agreed that they would all meet up for a nice dinner so that they could all say good-bye to Jake and Jenny properly.

With some time to kill before she even had to get ready for dinner, she decided to go get some breakfast at the cafe and maybe catch Karen. Luckily, when she walked in, it looked like the morning rush was just dying down and Karen was behind the counter.

"Hey sweetie, what a nice suprise. Grab a seat and I'll have your favorite to you in a sec."

"Thanks Karen."

Soon, Karen had brought over a cup of cofee and a warm banana nut muffin and took a seat next to her. Brooke was glad that she didn't have to ask Karen to talk to her. Karen had some kind of mother radar that told her when she was needed.

"So why are you all alone, Brooke? I didn't think that Peyton and Haley would let you out of their sight for a second."

"Yeah, I thought so too, but Peyt needed to spend some time with Jake and Jenny and Deb took Haley and Nate to some luncheon."

"Oh my, I knew that she didn't want to go to that stuffy thing. I didn't think she would drag Haley and Nathan with her." They both laughed.

"Where's my son? I'm sure that he would love to spend some time with you."

"He needs to catch up on some studying. This trip was unexpected to say the least. I guess he was in the middle of mid-terms.I can't believe he came when I heard how much he had to do."

"Well, Luke always did have a soft spot for you. I'm reminded of that everytime I see his tatoo."

"C'mon Karen, be honest. It's grown on you hasn't it?" Brooke teased. She laughed when Karen arched her eyebrow and didn't smile.

"I've missed that laugh around here Brooke. I want you to visit more. You're always welcome to stay with me."

"Don't promise something you'll regret! I just might take you up on that."

"I'm gonna hold you to that. Now tell me, how are you going, despite everything?"

"I'm okay. Really. When I moved to California, I got to start over with a clean slate. No one knew about my reputation so there were no expecations. I got to be more of myself but at the same time I couldn't if that makes any sense. When I was here, everyone looked at me like the easy, rich cheerleader. They never took me seriously. I got to my new school and I actually got good grades."

"That's not so hard to believe, Brooke. I know that you can do anything you put your mind to. I think it started before you left, Miss President."

"I know. It was just a little easier when people didn't have this picture of what I was supposed to be like. On the other hand, because they didn't know me, I don't think they could fully understand me. either. I have friends but they're more like, let's go shopping or a party friends. I haven't been able to find that person I could call at two o'clock to just talk to because I was lonely, you know? I don't have any Peyton's out there. I think that's why it was so great when I started to get close to my parents."

"Are you going to be okay out there by yourself, Brooke?"

"I'll be fine. It was nice to have them around for once but I'm used to being on my own before. I'll adapt."

"Oh Brooke, you're too young to be thinking that way."

"That seems to be a theme with me."

"If it gets to be too much, promise me you'll call me. I've already decided that I'm going to call you once a week to check on you."

"Karen, that's really not necessary."

"For you maybe, but it is for me if I want to sleep at night. I know that you only lived with me a couple of months, but you're the little girl I never had. I can't help but worry."

"Speaking of little girls you've never had, why don't you have one with Uncle Keith? I was so happy when Peyton told me that he came back and you got married! You deserve to be happy, Karen."

"Thank you, and so do you. I don't know about anymore kids. It would be nice but I think that I'm closer to being a grandma than a mom again."

"Is Lucas...um...with someone that seriously?" Brooke asked with a look of shock.

Karen grabbed her hand and shook her head furiously. "No! No, nothing like that. I just meant that I was getting up there in age."

"Oh, okay, not that there's anything wrong with that. With all this drama, I haven't gotten around to asking him if he's seeing anyone."

"No, he's not. Would it bother you if he was?"

"I know that it shouldn't. He has every right to find somebody but when I heard you say...it felt like my heart sunk into my stomach. I've already had this talk with Peyton, Haley, even Lucas a little bit. I'm not sure how I feel except that I'm not ready to think of him that way again."

"Totally understandable. You're both so young, Brooke. You don't have to decide who you're meant to spend the rest of your life with just now. Look where it got me, I didn't find him until I was almost forty. But if it means anything, I think you would make each other happy and I couldn't imagine my son with anyone better if I could pick her myself."

"I'm sure that he would love that!" Brooked joked and Karen joined in her laughter.

"There has been something I've been meaning to ask you Brooke, I couldn't let you leave this week without inviting you home for Thanksgiving. I don't know if you have plans set with your aunt but I would love it if you could stop by."

"I don't even know if my aunt and her family celebrate Thanksgiving. If they do, they'll probably throw some huge party."

"Well, you are officially invited to stay and spend Thanksgiving with us. In fact, I am not going to take no for an answer, even if I have to buy the non-refundable tickets today."

"Umm...I dunno."

"Do you have plans?"

"No, but..."

"No buts. I'm going to book the ticket tonight. I'll have Lucas pick you up at the airport that Wednesday night. Let me know if you have classes and I will plan accordingly."

"You don't have to go to the trouble, Karen. I would love to come for Thanksgiving and I can get my ticket and ride. That's too much."

"It's not. You're apart of my family Brooke. You have been since I saw how much you cared for my son when he was in the hosptial. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't come to me and I know that Keith feels the same way."

"Thanks, Karen."

"Don't need it but while we're at it, I expect you here for Christmas too."

Brooke laughed and impulsively gave her a hug. Karen smiled and patted her on the back.

"See, this is why I like you Brooke, you listen to me. If only Lucas weren't so stubborn."

"Oh c'mon, You have a great son and you know it."

"I do, don't I? And now that you're going to be home more, we're all complete."

"You sound like Peyton and Haley. I swear they are like Duke tour guides trying to convince me what a great school it is. I think that they're using this week to convince me to transfer."

"I think that's a great idea!"

"Karen!"

"Okay, okay. I will stop while I'm ahead. I actually better get back to work. Let me know if you need something."

"I think I'm actually going to head over to the cemetary for awhile. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, sweetie."

"Thanks again, for everything. Bye."

Brooke felt lighter as she exited the cafe. Her conversations with Peyton, Haley, Lucas and Karen were starting to convince her that she wasn't as alone as she thought. For the first time in awhile, she was beginning to think that things might actually turn out alright. It was a small step but at least it was one in the right direction.

Peyton had leant her car to get around so she drove herself to the cemetary. The pile of dirt was gone and they covered it with sections of grass and all the floral arrangements were piled on top of the lone plot. The headstone wouldn't be placed for a couple weeks so she could visit it when she came back for Thanksgiving."

"Hi Mom, Dad. I hope that you're doing better up there. I think it's probably better, huh? There's so much drama down here. I'm doing better though so I hope that you aren't too worried about me. Karen's already invited me for the holidays so I'm going to be able to visit you more than I thought, which I'm happy about. I didn't want to stay with Aunt Katherine. No offense Dad but she's a big snob. I feel bad for Michael. I think I should probably try and talk to him more. We're going to be the only ones left when Aunt Katherine is gone.I don't want him to be alone. I know how hard that can be. I decided to stay in North Carolina for about a week. I'm going to be staying with Peyton at Duke. I missed her so much. I can't believe they've all just opened up their arms to me again. I'm pretty lucky to have them. Well, I better be going. I'll come say good-bye on Wednesday. I promise. I love you guys."

Brooke headed back to Peyton's where she did a little drafting. Like Lucas, she was going to have a lot of work to catch up on when she got back to school so she needed to get some in whenever she could. Before, she knew it, it was actually getting late. She threw her pad onto the table so she could take a quick shower and get ready before Haley and Nathan came to pick her up. They were going to a nice Italian Restaurant by the Riverfront so she decided to dress warmly. She put on a gray sweater with a big cowl neck, black slacks and black boots. She put her hair into soft waves and slightly up. She was just putting on some lip gloss when the doorbell rang. She ran downstairs to open it and let Haley, Nathan and even Lucas in.

"Hey guys, I'm almost ready. I just have to switch purses. Two secs I promise!" she yelled as she disappeared back upstairs.

Lucas didn't even hear what she was saying, all he could think about was how beautiful she looked when she opened the door. Brooke had always been gorgeous but he noticed that she had a more mature style about her. She wasn't showing as much skin but she still made his knees weak. He decided that he couldn't go down that path of thinking so he turned his attention to the sketch pad on the coffee table. It was a sketch of some sort of high rise building. It was simple but it was really good. He couldn't believe that Brooke was going to be designing buildings. Nathan was looking over his shoulder and gave a whistle.

"Wow. She's good."

"Let me see!" Haley yelled, not wanting to feeling out. "Wow. I thought Peyton was the artist. I didn't know Brooke could draw like that."

"Yeah, I didn't know either," Lucas said, wondering what else about Brooke he never got to find out.

"Are you guys snooping?" Brooke asked as she came down again.

"Yes, Brooke! This is amazing! I can see why you went into architecture," Haley gushed.

"Thanks, I was torn between that and fashion design but I figure this way, I don't have to deal with bitchy models. I'm ready."

"Ok, then, let's roll," Nathan said directing them towards the door and to his car.

Lucas held open her door before getting back into the back with her. She couldn't help but notice how good he looked in his khaki slacks and black button down shirt. He smelled good too, but then again he always smelled good. They got to the Riverfront parking and walked a short distance to the restaurant where they found Peyton and Jake waiting with Jenny on his shoulders. She looked adorable with her curly blond pig-tails and little sailor outfit.

Jenny remembered her from the other day and since she was more comfortable she gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek like everyone else. Brooke's heart melted as Peyton taugh her to say Auntie Brooke, but it came out more like 'Auntie Booky'.

Brooke laughed as Peyton and Jake tried to get her to say it right.

"No! I think she says it better. I'll just change my name so that she is saying it right."

"The only one of us she can say right is Haley, she likes to add -ey to everyone's name if you haven't noticed. Peytey, Lukey, Natey, Haley."

"It's adorable!"

They were seated in the corner which they actually preferred. They could get loud if they really got into it. Dinner went by quickly as they eased into light and funny conversations. Before they knew it, they were sharing a big brownie sundae dessert. Jenny had more of it around her mouth than she was getting in her mouth to Jake's chagrin.

"Jake, I don't think she's going to be able to go to bed anytime soon with this sugar rush," Haley said.

"I was afraid of that. I just didn't have the heart to tell her she couldn't come with us after I had left her with my parents all yesterday."

Brooke admired Jake. For becoming such a young dad, she could tell how devoted he was to being there for his daughter. And she saw how Jenny had quickly attached herself to Peyton again. A stranger walking past the three of them wouldn't have a hard time believing that they were a family. Brooke could just see Jenny calling Peyton 'mommy' and she knew that would make her friend so happy. She was drawn out of her daydream when everyone started getting up. Peyton, Jake and Jenny decided to walk down the pier so they said their good-byes to Jake and Jenny with promises to seethem soon. Brooke took her turns to give them big, hard hugs.

"Thank you for coming, Jake.You don't knowo how much it means to me.I loved seeing you both again."

"It was good seeing you too and I know that Jenny loves you already. I'll see you next time you come home, kay?"

"Promise. Take care of yourself and Jenny, Jagelski."

"Same goes for you. Bye Brooke."

"Bye, now go! I don't want to start crying again!."

She waved as he walked away with Jenny resting against his shoulder and Peyton intersecting her arm with his. She wished she had her camera with her.

"You ok?" Lucas asked. He saw that she had started to get teary-eyed.

"Yeah. It's just hard having to say good-bye to everyone again."

"It doesn't get any easier huh?"

"I guess not."

"Alright, guys. Let's go. If I know the both of you, neither of you have packed and we're supposed to leave early tomorrow," Haley said.

"I don't know what you're talking about Tutorgirl."

"Uh-huh. You better not still be packing when we come pick you up tomorrow."

"Fine, fine. I will pack tonight. I promise. It's a good thing you have a big SUV, Nate, I brought a lot of clothes."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

As promised, Brooke packed once she got back to Peyton's that night. Also as promised, Haley and Nathan arrived early to pick them up. It was Peyton, however who was running around throwing things into bags because she got home late and went to bed immediately. Brooke smugly smirked as she sat and had coffee with Larry, Nathan and Haley as Peyton finished up so they could pick up Lucas.

When Peyton declared that she was finished, Nathan started loading their bags into the back of his Expedition. Brooke was right, it was lucky he had a big car so that all thier bags would fit. Brooke took the time to say good-bye to Larry and hug him.

"Thank you so much, Larry. I really appreciate you letting me take over your home like I did."

"Nonsense. It was nothing. I like having you around. Have some fun. I'll see you Wednesday so we don't have to say good-bye just yet."

Brooke climbed into the back of the car so Peyton could have a moment with her dad. Then Nathan drove them over to Lucas'. They all came down so that they could say bye to Keith and Karen. Lucas was in the livingroom with his one duffel bag and backpack. Nathan sighed in relief. He wouldn't have been able to fit much more in the trunk.

"So, what took you so long? I thought you were going to pack last night, Brooke?"

"Un-uh, don't look at me. This was all P. Sawyer. Her and Jagelski had a late night."

"Peyton! I'm shocked!"

"Shut up! It's early and I'm tired. So if you'll excuse me, I will say bye to Keith and Karen first and then crash in the third row to sleep."

"Someone's grouchy," Lucas teased.

Brooke waited until Peyton was done before hugging Keith and Karen.

"I'll be back Wednesday. Thank you guys."

"Bye Brooke, take care."

"I will."

She got in the middle row and waited as Lucas said bye to his parents since he pretty much considered Keith his dad. Once everyone settled in, Nathan headed toward the interstate for the two hour drive to Durham. Brooke fell asleep pretty quickly but was jolted awake as her head bumped into the window on a paticulary bumpy stretch of road.

"Sorry about that, they've been working on this highway forever. It's not getting any better," Nathan said looking at her through the mirror.

She rubbed her forehead and sighed. Seeing that she still looked sleepy,Lucas offered her his shoulder, "C'mere." She smiled gratefully as she settled in the crook of his arm. He was warm and soft so she fell back to sleep quickly. Before she knew it, she felt him trying to slide out from under her.

"Huh?"

"Sorry, we're here. I wasn't going to wake you until we got the car unloaded."

"I was asleep for two hours? Wow."

"Yeah, I think I lost feeling in my arm for awhile."

"Sorry about that."

"It's cool. I'm glad you got some rest. C'mon. We're at Peyton's apartment. We'll get you guys unloaded and maybe we can get some breakfast."

"Oooh, breakfast! I'm starving!" she yelled and jumped out of the car. He couldn't help but think about how cute she was when she was excited.

He helped Nathan with the bags and Haley and Brooke supervised as they called it. Finally, when all the bags were in the apartment, they woke up Peyton who had laid in the back asleep the whole time.

"Peyton Sawyer! Get your ass up and out of my car now and unlock your door so that Luke and I can carry the fifty million bags inside!" Nathan yelled.

Peyton jumped up and glared after she realized what was going on. She grumbled as she got out and led them into the apartment. Her roommate had told her that she was also going home that weekend and she only lived fifteen minutes away so she probably wouldn't be back until later this evening. Peyton gave Brooke a quick tour of the two bedroom apartment before they were back in the car to drop off Luke's stuff at the frat house. Haley and Nathan decided that they would just leave thier stuff in the car until after they got home since they would probably be hanging out there for the day. Luke's frat house was actually an old victorian mansion. Since, Nathan, Haley and Peyton had been there so many times, they decided to wait in the car. Luke was going to show Brooke his room and then they were going to Denny's. For some reason, Haley had some wierd craving for a Moon over My Hammy.

Brooke followed Lucas inside. Since it was early Sunday morning, she didn't really expect too many guys to be up much less walking about but Lucas and Nathan must have joined the frat where all the fitness crazy guys joined because there were a bunch up and getting ready to run or lift weights. Brooke shook her head. If she didn't have to get up early, she would be in bed until noon if she could. As it turned out, Lucas lived on the third floor. He opened the door to his room. He seemed to be reading what was going on in her head.

"It's an organized chaos. I know where everything is."

"I didn't say anything."

"I know what you're thinking. Hey, the bed was made. I left in kind of a hurry. I didn't have time to tidy up."

"It's okay, Luke, I promise not to tell your mom."

"Thank you!" he grinned. Just as he had thrown his bags onto the bed and they turned to get leave, a tall guy appeared at the door looking like he had just gotten back from a run.

"Scott! You're back! We missed you at the luau yesterday. Oh you've got a guest, sorry."

"It's cool. Mike, this is Brooke. She's the friend I went to see in Tree Hill. She's gonna stay with Peyt for the week. Brooke, this is Mike. He's got the room next door. He's also on team with Nate."

"Hi Mike. Nice to meet you."

She could tell Mike was a flirt when he shook her hand and gave it a good squeeze to go along with his bright smile.

"Nice to meet you too. Hopefully, Luke here will bring you around to some of our events this week. We're in the middle of a pledge period so we're having lots of fun."

Lucas seemed to see that his friend was flirting with Brooke and decided that he didn't like it so he was going to get them out as quickly as possible.

"We'll see. I don't know what Peyt and Hales have planned for her. Speaking of which, they're waiting for us in the car, we should get going."

"Ok, see ya Mike."

"Hope to see you soon, Brooke," Mike barely had time to yell before Lucas had taken her hand and led her out of the room and towards the stairs.

"So what did you think of Luke's ordered chaos?" Haley asked as they got back in the car.

"So, I'm not the first to get that spiel, huh?"

"Ha ha. What do you expect? I live in a frat house. Just be glad all the laundry was in the closet, alright?" Lucas grumbled.

"I'm just kidding. It's really not bad. What shocked me the most was they were all up and moving so early."

"I know. It's like a freaking gym in there in the moring," Haley exclaimed.

"Did you meet any of the guys?" Nathan answered, correctly guessing the reason for Lucas' foul mood. He caught his brother's look in the mirror so Lucas immediately turned his head to look out the window.

"I met Mike. He seemed nice. Friendly."

"Friendly is right!" Peyton schreeched. "He's like Tim. He hits on anything that breathes."

They got to Denny's and had a quick breakfast before heading over to Nathan and Haley's small one bedroom apartment. They hung out for awhile before they started falling asleep so Nathan offered to drop them all off so that they could rest. He dropped of the girls at Peyton's first so that he could have a minute to talk to Lucas alone.

"So grumpy, Mike's already moving in on Brooke, huh?"

"I really don't want to talk about it Nate. It's been a long week and I have a lot of shit I need to do."

"Must be bothering you more than you want to admit. You only cuss when you're really mad."

"I'm not mad. He's free to flirt with her and she's free to flirt back."

"Was she flirting back?"

"I don't think so. At least I hope she wasn't."

"For what it's worth, I think she's still into you. If she hooks up with anyone before she leaves, my money's on you."

"I don't think so but thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Don't wait too long, big brother. I know that she's not ready right this second, but she looks like she's doing better. Don't wait to tell her how you feel until it's too late."

"I just wish I was psychic and I could tell when she steps over that line you know? Misread it and I'm screwed."

"True. Want me to start spreading the word with the guys that she's off limits?"

"Part of me wants to tell you hell yeah! And not just because of how I feel, because I think she's vulnerable right now. The other part of me thinks that I don't have any right to control her life like that. You're cool to offer though."

"Just so you know, I think you're right but I'm going to do it anyway. Peyton and Haley already made me promise while you guys were up in your room. They don't think she's ready either."

"Those two are crazy."

"Exactly, which is why I think the guys are going to listen. If I said it was because of you, they might be like whatever but I think the guys are scared of Hales and Peyt."

"Hell, I am."

"Me too! See ya, Luke."

"Thanks, get some rest. It's been a hell of a week. See ya Nate."

"Tell me about it. You too."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

The next day Brooke tagged along with Peyton and Haley as they went through classes, even sitting in on some of their larger lectures. She actually enjoyed Haley's Sociology class and made a mental note to check if UCLA offered a similar class the next quarter. She also seemed to be making quite an impression as several guys had asked Haley who her new friend was. Haley would politely tell them she was only visiting and not to get thier hopes up.

"Geez, Brooke. I've been going to this school for over a year and I think that more guys have come up to me today asking about you than have come up to me the whole time that I have been here."

"I think that might have more to do with the ring on your finger and thier fear of Nathan than you Hales," Brooke argued.

"I never thought of that. Thanks Brooke."

"You're welcome but it's the truth. It happened in High School. Only an idiot would hit on you knowing that if Nathan found out, he would beat his ass. And before Nate, you had Lucas by your side. I must admit, Haley, you have an awesome taste in bodyguards," Brooke laughed.

"No argument here. Our boys are pretty fine."

"You mean your boys, right?"

"Uh, not really.You both may not want to admit but you've got Lucas wrapped around you little finger."

"That's not what I''m doing!"

"I didn't say you were. It's just how it is, which goes to show how in love with you that boy really is."

"Haley."

"I know, I know. I've been holding it in for like a week now. Let me get it out and then I'll drop it."

"Fine, go for it," Brooke sighed as the two of them sat on a bench outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium to wait for Nathan to get out of practice.

"Don't you think about how happy you guys would be if you let go of your fear and just take the chance? Because from experience, there is no better feeling than knowing you've found that person you're going to spend the rest of you life with and he loves you just as much."

"I wouldn't know how that feels. I don't have to remind you of Brooke and Lucas part one. For the first time in my life, I found someone who I thought loved me because of me, not because I was pretty cheerleader. God, when it was just Luke and me, I just wanted time to stop. But even then, I knew it as too good to be true. I knew he and Peyton had this connection that we just didn't have. We're just so different that even now, I know that we could never have that."

"Brooke...Lucas and Peyton have had like three years to act out on that connection. For most of it, you and Jake have been gone, if that was what they were looking for, no amount of guilt would have kept them apart. Luke's been under the impression that he would never see you again, why would he not be with her already if that's what he wanted?"

" I don't know."

"The answer is he doesn't want to be with her. He made a jackass move and as his best friend I know that he punishes himself for it more than you will ever know. Do you know that he hasn't even asked a girl out since you left?"

"What about that Rachel girl? Peyton told me he was seeing some girl Senior Year."

"God, don't remind me. That girl was such a skank."

"Haley! Isn't that what you first thought of me?"

"Yeah, but I was wrong about you. You proved yourself to me even though you didn't have to. The more I got to know you, I saw how strong and loyal you were. And you made my best friend happy. Rachel was just a skank. He tried to avoid her but she kept pushing herself on him. I think he just gave up and she did kind of remind him of you. I guess he figured, 'If I can't have Brooke, I can try and find someone as close to her as I can.'"

"Gee, thanks."

"You didn't let me finish. He tried it with Rachel but she was no comparison. She must have sensed that he wasn't into it so she got bored and moved on. There's been no one else, Brooke. He's got girls throwing themselves at him right and left but it's like he has blinders on. Nate and Peyton call them 'Brooke Blinders'. Luke would kill us if he ever heard us say that but I think they're right."

"Assuming that I do want to be with Lucas, I'm leaving again. It would be so hard not seeing him everyday. Knowing how insecure I am about us as it is, he's thousands of miles away with girls like that walking around this campus, it couldn't work."

"You don't know that. You're not high school teenagers anymore. You've both changed. You can make this work if you try hard enough. Besides, can you look me in the eye and tell me its not going to be hard on you not seeing him everyday even if you're not together?"

Brooke looked at he hands in her lap unable to deny it.

"I thought so."

"Haley, has anyone ever told you, you can be damn annoying when you put your mind to it?" Brooked laughed and Haley scowled before bursting into giggles too.

"I tell her that ever day," Nathan declared as he came out of practice. He pulled Haley up for a kiss and wrapped his arm around her waist. "What is she annoying about now?"

"Hey! I resent that!" Haley complained and smacked him on the chest. Nathan just laughed and held her hand down so she couldn't do it again.

"You guys are too cute."

"Thank you," both of them responded.

Brooke shook her head. "If you guys are ready, I am ready for dinner. I can't believe I'm missing school to go to classes I'm not even enrolled in."

"Let me just call Luke, I know that he's at the library trying to study for his midterm. I'll tell him to meet us at the student union. Where's Peyt?"

"She's got a late lab. She won't be out until 9."

"Ouch, sucks to be her."

"You can't say anything, Mr. I play basketball so my classes are specially scheduled to work around my practices and games?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nathan defended but looked away whistling so Brooke know he very well knew wht he was talking about.

"Just call Luke," Haley demanded and started walking. Brooke and Nathan rushed to catch up with her.

"Hey dude, it's Nate. You wanna take a break and grab some dinner? Yeah, they're with me. Cool, see you in ten."

They walked across campus and arrived practically at the same time as Lucas.

"Hey guys."

"Hales, why don't you and Brook grab a table? Me and Luke will get the food. What do you guys want?"

"I want chicken tenders, mac and cheese and a root beer" Haley answered.

"Brooke?"

"Um, a cheeseburger, with..."

"Onions, no pickles or tomatoes and a Diet Coke?" Lucas interrupted.

"Yeah, thanks," Brooke said blushing. She couldn't believe he remembered how she liked her cheeseburgers.

Haley and her found an empty table in the crowded student union and a couple minutes later, the guys came back with thier trays of food.

"Thank you," Brooke smiled at Lucas, as he set her food and soda in front of her.

"So, how did you like your day in the life of a Blue Devil?" he asked sitting down in the empty seat next to her.

"It was cool. Peyton has the most boring professor for her Literature class, I fell asleep, but other than that, the classes weren't too bad. The campus is gorgeous."

"Isn't it, especially in the fall with all the colors in the leaves?" Haley asked. "I bet you don't get that in LA."

"No, it's in the 70's right now and still pretty green. You guys should come out to visit some time."

"Oooh! That sounds fun. Nate, we should go visit Brooke. I've never been to California. You too Luke!"

"Gee, thanks Haley. I'm just an afterthought, I see how it is."

"Whatever, I invited you didn't I?"

"Kids, kids..." Nathan joked.

"I know!" Haley interuppted, obviously not really paying much attention to Lucas or her husband. "What if we fly out and pick you up for Thanksgiving break? We actually get the whole week off. We can fly out there Friday night, do the whole sightseeing bit. Can you take us to Disneyland? Then we can fly back home on Wednesday. Oh my gosh, I can't wait. I can't wait until I tell Peyton we're going to to LA. She should ask Jake if he can come. Jenny would love Disneyland. This is going to be great!"

"Woah, Hales, take a breath." Brooke stopped her with a grin.

"I can't help it, I'm excited."

"I hate to burst your bubble Hales, but I don't know if I can go, I'll probably have a couple games to play."

"Oh no. You have to come!"

"Why don't we just put this on the backburner and we'll figure it out later when I can check my schedule?"

Haley was pouting but Nathan draped his arm over her shoulder and gave her a kiss on the forehead to comfort her. She let a small smile escape and went back to eating her mac and cheese.

"So, how was practice Nate?" Lucas asked deciding to change the subject.

"Harsh. I thought Whitey was harsh with the suicides, Coach K makes him look like Mother Teresa. My legs are still burning. All I want to do is crash but I have to go to mandatory Study Hall at the athletic center in about an hour. Which reminds me, Luke, can you make sure that Hales and Brooke get home from here? It's getting dark."

"We're not little kids, guys. I think we can make it back to the apartment without a bodyguard." Haley argued.

"Haley, can we not argue about this everytime?" Nathan whined.

"I'm just going to follow you guys anyway," Lucas said.

"Guys and their macho egos," Haley mumbled, rolling her eyes.

"I think it's sweet, Haley. When you and Nathan are old and gray and all he does is sit in front of the tv and watch ESPN, you're going to remind him about how sweet and thoughtful he was early in yourr marraige," Brooke added.

"See, listen to Brooke!"

"Yeah, yeah. Although, you already sit and watch ESPN all the time!"

The teasing continued until they were all finished eating. They walked with Nate to the athletic center and then walked towards Haley's apartment.

"So Brooke, what's your schedule like tomorrow?"

"Funny, you should mention it Luke. Haley has a shift at the tutoring center and Peyton has discussions I really can't tag along with and a deadline for her strip so she's going to be at the paper. I was hoping that I could tag along with you. They said that you have Tuesday Mornings pretty open. I promise that I'll be quiet if you have to study. I don't really know Katie and I don't feel right just walking around the apartment with her there. Please Luke."

"Sure,I was actually going to write a paper in my room. I don't have class until the afternoon, so just walk over with Peyton in the morning. At least you can watch tv or something."

"Great, thanks Luke."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

Peyton had woken Brooke up at 6:00am to get ready.

"I'm sorry, Brooke. I know it's early but I have a 7:00 class and if I'm gonna get you to the frat house, we've gotta leave in half an hour."

"No problem, let me just take a quick shower."

Brooke was ready to go and they walked over to Lucas' while munching on donuts.

"I'm glad that I came with you guys, Peyt. It's nice being able to spend some time with you guys."

"I feel the same way. I already feel like you belong here."

"I know what you mean. I really envy how the four of you are like a little family. How the guys insist that they walk with you at night, how you guys know each others' schedules. It's really sweet."

"It is comforting. It's such a change from home, you know? It's like having a little piece of home with me."

Peyton could see a little sadness in Brooke's eyes so she pulled her to her as they walked in a half hug.

"I still want you here with me, Brooke. As much as I love Hales, Nate and Luke, I don't have my best friend. I'm not going to hide it, I'm going to bug you...and Jake until you both give up and transfer!"

"Peyton!"

"What, don't you think you'd like to come back? This is where you belong and you know it. I've never heard you call California home. Not once. You know why? Because it never will be."

"Oh, Peyt. You're going to make me cry."

"I'm sorry. I don't want you to be sad. Which is why I'm fighting so hard for this. I think that you'll be happy with us. We'll be complete if you do. Hell, I won't fight so much for Jake if I can get you here."

"You don't mean that."

"You're right., but at least he's only a car drive away. I can live with that. I don't think I can go back to not seeing you."

"I promise, we'll talk all the time."

"Not the same, but I'll drop it for now. I've still got some time to break you down and we're here."

"Bye, Peyt. I love you. Thank you for fighting for me."

"I love you too. Just walk in and up to Luke's room. No one will care. I'll call you later. Nate said that we could borrow his car so we could drive down to Tree Hill late tonight instead of the morning."

"Sounds good. Have a good day."

They shared a quick hug before Peyton rushed off to make her class. As promised, the door was unlocked so Brooke just walked into the house. There were a couple guys in the hall who smiled but they didn't say anything so she walked up the stairs to where she remembered where Lucas' room was. She knocked on his door and waited patiently for him to answer the door. A minute later, a groggy looking Lucas answered the door in just his boxers. 'Oh wow. He looks hot! I don't remember abs like that.' she thought to herself.

"Brooke?" he asked sleepily.

"Huh? Oh, Sorry. Did I wake you? I should have called first. Peyton had an early class."

"That's right. Do you want to come in?"

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. Um...you could go back to sleep if you like? I can find ways to entertain myself."

"No, I'm glad you did. I have to get paper this paper done before class. Why don't you grab a seat somewhere? I'm gonna take a quick shower and we can grab some breakfast downstairs when I get back."

"Ok, that sounds good."

He grabbed his towel and some clothes as she settled into his bed and flipped on the tv. There wasn't much on besides news or cartoons so she started to look around his room. She saw some picture taped up to his mirror and she got curious. She saw some from graduation at Tree Hill High. It made her think of what it would have been like if she was there. She saw his prom picture with some redhead so she guessed that must be the Rachel girl Haley hated. She was definately pretty. There were some of him with people she didn't know so they must have been people there at Duke. There was one picture he was all dressed up in tux next to Nathan and group of guys that must have been some fraternity party.

'Does he not take a bad picture?' she thought. Then a strip of pictures in the corner caught her attention. It was of him with her, the ones they took in the photobooth at the mall. She had a set of them on her own mirror in her apartment. She touched it and she could remember how good it felt to kiss him that day. The picture next to them was of her in her cheerleading uniform. It must of been at the Classic Junior Year because she was holding a trophy. She wondered why he would have that picture. They weren't even speaking at the time, it was right after she found out about him and Peyton. Shaking her head, she decided to stop snooping and sit back on the bed and wait. He was back in a couple minutes.

"Hey, nothing to watch?"

"Not really."

"I'm all set. Are you hungry?"

"I had a donut to tide me over but I would love breakfast."

"Great. Let's go."

He waited for her to get up and then placed his hand on the small of her back to gently guide her. They went down to the first floor to a huge diningroom where there was a huge breakfast laid out.

"Some of the perks of living in the frat, we have a cook that comes in."

"Nice."

"Yeah, Nathan, Haley and Peyton like to stop by and say that they're visiting me but I think it's because of the food. Go ahead, dig in."

Brooke piled some waffles, bacon and eggs onto a plate and followed him to some seats at the huge table. He introduced her to a couple of guys who were already eating and were giving him questioning looks. He waited for her to sit and put his own plate down.

"Coffee or juice?"

"Juice, please."

He got them both some glasses of juice before settling down and sitting beside her to work on his own monstrous pile of food.

"How could you possibley eat all that food and not gain any weight, Luke?"

"Good genes, I guess."

Remembering how good he looked in his boxers earlier, she couldn't help but silently agree.

"You know, I never pictured you as a frat guy, Luke?"

"Tell me about it. Skills and Fergie couldn't stop laughing when I told them what I had done. Nathan really wanted to join but he didn't want to do the hazing alone so I caved and said that I would do it. I ended up liking it and it'll look good on the med school applications. Maybe even get a scholarship because of it, so it worked out well. The guys are great too. I couldn't stand some of the other frats Nate was looking at."

"I'm happy for you, Luke. It looks like things are working out for you."

"Thanks, Brooke. That means a lot. So, how come you didn't join a sorority? If you didn't picture me in a frat, I definitely saw you in a sorority."

"Me, too. I don't know. I guess I used the environment to challenge myself more rather than focusing on parties and boys like I used to."

"As much as I hated you leaving, I can see that it was good for you, Brooke. Don't take this sarcastically because it's not. You've really matured Brooke. I'm really impressed. I mean I could kind of see the change before you left but I can tell that you've grown a lot the last couple of years."

"That's sweet."

"So um, if you don't want to talk about it just tell me, but how are you doing, you know with your parents?"

"I'm still sad, it's in the back of my mind all the time but you guys help a lot. It's easier to talk about now."

"Well, if you do need to talk about it, you can come to me at anytime, kay? And that's even after you go back to California. Don't wait until you come back home for Thanksgiving. It's not good to hold it in."

"Huh."

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just that I was talking to Peyton earlier and she said something. She said that I never call California home and just now you called Tree Hill home. And it felt right hearing it that way. Just funny I guess."

"I think Peyton may be onto something."

"Not you too."

"Sorry."

"Luke, I thought I could count on you to be on my side," Brooke chided.

"You can always count on me to be on your side," Luke said seriously and she knew that looking into his blue eyes he meant it. Not knowing exactly how to respond, she turned her attention back to her food. They ate in silence when she felt someone sit on her other side with a thud.

"Scott, Brooke. How's it going?"

"Nothing much, Mike," Lucas sighed. He really was not in the mood to deal with Mike right now. Nathan had called him the night before and said that he had a talk with Mike and some of the other guys alreay and told them about Haley and Peyton's threats but Lucas couldn't tell if Mike was going to listen just yet.

"Hey Mike. You're up early." Brooke stated, trying to be polite.

"Yeah, I have a class in like an hour and I breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Why are you here so early?"

"Oh, I'm just hanging with Luke today."

"Really, didn't you tell me that your swamped, dude?"

"Yeah, we're just going to hang here while I try to get my paper done."

"Won't you be bored, Brooke?"

"Nah, I'll find ways to entertain myself. I actually have some work that I can get done too before I head back to school myself."

"Oh, yeah? Where do you go?"

"UCLA. I'm a proud Bruin."

"Get out, I'm from California. I went to high school in Newport."

"Wow, it's gorgeous there. I graduated high school in Malibu."

"Well, I'll have to give you a ring when I come home and visit. Isn't that great, Luke?"

"Yeah, great."

Mike took the opportunity to talk to Brooke about common hangouts they had at California until he had to leave for class. Lucas was releived when he finally stood to go.

"So, Brooke are you coming to dinner on Friday? It's mandatory for the brothers but if Lucas hasn't asked you, I would love to take you. It's semi-formal at a nearby hotel, nothing serious,"

"Um...I don't know what my plans are. What if I get back to you?"

She had glanced at Lucas and he looked like he was about to explode. She almost laughed.

"You do that. Luke's got the number or better yet, I'm right next door," he winked as he waved good-bye.

Lucas would have to talk to Nathan about how uneffective his threats were. He stood to signal that he was done with eating too and took thier dirty dishes into the kitchen before leading her towards the stairs again.

"So, are you going to ask me to this dinner so that I don't have to go with Mike or are you going to just let me suffer?" Brooke asked as they settled back into his room. Her on the bed and him at his desk.

"You don't wanna go with him?" Lucas asked, relieved.

"Not really. He's a little cocky. That is unless you have a date already?" Brooke suddenly worried.

"No, no, nothing like that. I didn't know if you would be up to it."

"It sounds like fun. Peyton told me a little about it last night. I know that you and Nate have to go so I knew Haley was going. She had agreed to go with I think she said his name was Pete? He has a girlfriend who couldn't go so she was going to go since she knew all you guys. She was going to back out since I was here but I told her to not worry about it so this works out perfectly. So would you mind? Katie's cool and all but I don't think we're at the hanging out alone stage." She was grinning now and her dimples were in full force. He never could say no when he saw those.

"No, I don't mind. You're right, it works out perfectly," he smiled back at her.

"Ok, well I'm going to stop bothering you so you can work on your paper. Pretend like I'm not even here. I'll just sketch."

'Pretend like she wasn't here? Who was she kidding?' he thought to himself. He had to though. Eventually, he forced himself to focus on his paper on Crime and Punishment. She kept her promise and kept quiet which kind of shocked him. Every so often he would steal a peek. She looked adorable with her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to get her design perfect. Before he knew it, it was well past noon but he had finished his paper to hs relief. He looked over at her and she had actually fallen asleep and curled up under his blankets. He didn't want to bother her but he was hungry and he needed to head to campus for his class. He gently shook her. He knew from personal experience that if she woke up the wrong way, she could be very grouchy.

"Brooke. Brooke, I'm sorry. We need to get going."

"Oh, ok. Did you finish?"

"Yeah, I was hoping we could stop by the student union and grab lunch before class."

"Sure, just lead the way."

She gathered her stuff so that she could continue sketching while he was in class, ran her hand through her hair and followed him out.

"You know, I think I'm getting the hang of this campus. By the end of the week I won't need you guys to walk me anywhere anymore."

"I think you're right."

They had a quick lunch at the student union, stopped by his professor's office to turn in his paper and then walked into his Biology lecture. Normally, he sat towards the middle but Brooke was going to be drawing so they didn't want to bring too much attention to themselves and chose to sit in the back corner. They were settling in when a cute blond girl stopped at the end of the row and looked at them weirdly. Brooke figured by the anguished look on Lucas' face, she was an unwanted admirer of his.

"Luke, you're back! I missed you last week. It's just not the same."

"Yeah, I got back Sunday. Um, Carrie, I want you to meet someone. This is my friend from home, Brooke. Brooke this is Carrie."

"Nice to meet you," Brooke said with a fake smile.

"You too. Why are you here? In class with Luke, I mean."

"She's here for the week and we're spending the day together."

"I see. Wait a minute. Is she the girl in your pictures, Luke? You're his ex-girlfriend?"

"Uh, yeah, that would be me."

"Well, it's nice that you two still get along."

The expression in Brooke's face changed immediately. Lucas knew it all to well. He needed to get Carrie away and quickly.

"It looks like class is about to start. I think Tracy is saving you a seat up front."

"Yeah, I'll see you Lucas. Have you gotten your date for Friday yet?"

"Actually, I'm taking Brooke. I'll see you, Carrie."

The girl finally took the hint and nodded her head as she walked away.

"Let me explain."

"There's nothing to explain, Luke. I just didn't think that you would be telling everyone what had happend to us."

"That's what I want to explain. It sounded like she did, but I didn't tell her anything. If you haven't noticed, the frat isn't exactlty on lockdown. People just come and go freely. Anyway, Carrie's just very extroverted so she walked into my room during a party once. She was looking at the pictures in the mirror and she asked about my prom picture. I guess it had gotten around that there was a girl from back home and that's why I wasn't going out a lot. Personally, I think Haley and Peyton started it to spite me. Anyway, she asked if Rachel was that girl and I told her no and pointedto your picture. I didn't tell her anything, Brooke, you've got to believe me."

"I do. It's ok." She wanted to add, 'Was I the reason you weren't dating?' to the end of it but kept it in.

Lucas let out the breath he didn't know that he was holding. His attention was diverted to the front where his Professor was beginning to speak so he decided that he had to focus on the lecture. It was so hard though with Brooke so close to him. He could still smell the shampoo in her hair. It was the same floral kind she used to use in high school. He loved that smell. He would bury himself in her hair whenever he hugged her close to him. Two hours later, the class was over but Lucas didn't remember anything the professor had said. His mind kept wandering to thoughts of Brooke. For her part, she was diligently working on her design and didn't seem to know that he was distracted and didn't even really take notes.

"You ready?" she asked him as everyone was filing out.

"Yeah."

"Where are we off to next?"

"I usually like to workout on Tuesdays but I have that midterm tomorrow I need to study for. You must be bored being stuck with me today."

"No, it's ok. I don't mind. Back to you're room?"

"Yeah, it's going to be a late night, we can order some pizza while you wait for Peyton to finish up."

They walked back to his room and Brooke insisted on helping him study for his history test. She actually made it interesting. By the time Peyton came by around nine. She had picked up Nathan's car so all they had to do was get a change of clothes for Brooke and they would drive back to Tree Hill that night. She called Brooke to tell her that there was no parking near the frat and for her to just come out to the car.

"Thank for helping me out Brooke."

"No problem. Glad to be of help."

"Well, I hope that things go well in you meeting tomorrow. I'll see you when you get back."

"You sure will. I think that Haley and Peyton have the same Tuesday and Thursday schedules so I'll be here bright and early Thursday."

"Ok. I'll be ready. I'll be done with my papers and test tomorrow so we can do something else in the morning."

"Can't wait. Good luck on you test. Good night!"

"Night, Brooke. Hey, can you do me favor?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you and Peyt just give me a call to let me know that you got there safely?"

"Yeah, I can do that, bye."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Brooke, Larry and Peyton met Keith and Karen at her father's lawyer's office around nine the next morning. They were ushered into Mr. Roberts office and all took a seat. Brooke sat closest to him but Karen was there holding her hand, which she was grateful for. She had only occassionally run into Mr. Roberts at parties her parents had thrown, probably nothing more than a polite introduction.

"Thanks for coming in Brooke, I'm really sorry it's under these circumstances. I know that you only knew me as your father's attorney but I did consider your parents close friends of mine. I'm sure that they would be happy to see you aren't going through this alone and you have so many people here for you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Now then, I've gone through your parents will so I'll just simplify it without all the mumbo jumbo. I've also spoken to your Aunt Katherine as the only other living relative she isn't going to contest the wills. Unfortunately, when you work in my profession, it sometimes gets ugly. I'm glad that you won't have to go through that situation. Any questions, so far?"

"I do," Larry interrupted. "I hope you don't mind me asking some questions. I assure you that I am only thinking of Brooke's interests. I am the first to praise what an intelligent young woman she is, but she's so young, I don't think she's aware of how ugly these things could get. May I?"

"As long as Brooke gives her permission. Brooke?"

"It's fine. I trust everyone in this room 100 percent."

"Thanks, sweetie. My question is, you said that Katherine isn't going to contest the wills. While, I don't see how she possibly could if she wanted to, can she change her mind later on and fight Brooke for it? I hope you understand where I am going with this. It's not that I claim to have any knowledge of how Brooke's parents wanted to leave their estate, but under the circumstances, Brooke's been through enough. She doesn't need to be involved in some financial battle with the only family she has left."

"That's a very valid reason and one her aunt has already thought of. She signed off any claims to your inheritance. She realizes the sensitive situation we find ourselves in. Brooke, your parents had inherited some furniture and jewelry upon the death of your father's parents. It was stated in his will that he would like his sister to receive those, knowing her sentimental attachment to those pieces. Your aunt has stated that is all she could ask for and you deserve everything else. She didn't hesitate to put it in writing. We had it notarized and a copy made for yourself and one copy I will keep in my safe.I have a list of those items, just in case you would like to contest any of the items."

He provided her with the list and she did a quick glance. She didn't want to make it more difficult than it already was. There really wasn't anything there she recognized anyway. She just appreciated that her aunt was trying to make it easier on her as well. "These are fine. She should have these."

"Great, for legalities and in keeping this as neat as possilbe, would you mind getting your statement notarized as well?"

"No, not at all."

"Perfect, any questions before we move on?"

When no one said anything, he shifted some papers and focused on them.

"Ok, the next issue is your inheritance. Your parents put provisions in thier wills in case they passed away before you became of legal age, you would receive thier estate in increments. They had actually revised thier wills a year ago so you had already passed the age of eighteen. They have stipulated that you would receive 25 percent of any cash holdings in their names upon thier deaths. 50 percent upon your 21st birthday. The remaining 25 percent will be given on your 25th birthday. I know that your parents had gone through some hard times a couple years back but your father worked hard to get back on his feet. As of today, thier cash holdings are valued at 12.3 million."

He paused so that everyone could digest what he had just told them. Brooke had just inherited millions.

"What about estate taxes?" Karen asked, finally getting her bearings.

"We've already taken those into account, or should I say the Davis' did. That figure has already been reduced any taxes due from the estate. With your permission, I will have your parents accounts closed and moved into a trust so that it can't be taxed any farther before you can access it."

"Who would oversee these accounts until she reaches those ages and makes sure that it's still there?" Karen continued.

"I would be glad to, but it's really whomever you choose to, Brooke. It's intimidating working with such large figures, I know. There's no rush. I don't need answers right this second. I'll let you all discuss it all a bit after our meeting and you can get back to me."

"The 25 perecent that she gets now, that's a lump sum?" Keith asked.

"Yes, I've already started work on getting an account up and running in Brooke's name. A couple actually for insurance and tax reasons so Brooke isn't penalized too much. As soon as I have it all worked out, I will have you reveiw and sign off on it and she's free to use it as she pleases. Let me also mention, that there is a specific stipultion in the wills for the execution of the wills, that is to say my fees for services as well as other liens and debts they had. You don't have to worry about those either. I must say that your dad left nothing to chance, Brooke. He's covered all your bases. He didn't want you to have to worry about anything you didn't have too. There's a special account that is strictly for your school expenses. Tuition, books, your apartment. You can take it all out of this account that is seperate from the cash holdings. That one is already up and running because the Davis' had a trust account for that set up specifically, the name automatically transferred to Brooke upon thier death."

Brooke just nodded again. Karen squeezed her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Ok, let's see. Cash, debts, trusts...Oh yes, your aware of the trust fund left to you by your grandparents? That matures when you are twenty in a couple months. That's another account."

"Mr. Roberts, this is an overwhelming amount of money and accounts being handed to Brooke. Do you have the name of a couple advisors you trust who could help Brooke with all of this?" Larry asked bewildered.

"Yes, most definitely. I have a few aquaintances and they are all very willing to give references. I can understand both the reason to want help as well as the reluctance to go to a complete stranger."

"That would be very helpful, thank you," Larry responded.

"Only a few more things to go. Your dad was quite an investor. He had quite a bit invested upon his death. They all go to you. These are valued at about 2.5 million. With the fluctuating markets, I hope you understand the lack of a concrete figures in this area. These automatically transfer to your name. You can do as you please, keep them invested, change the investments, sell and cash out. I think that this is where an advisor would be very beneficial. I'm going to make sure that all my referrals will be able to help you with these invesments. Questions?"

He looked around and everyone shook their head.

"That brings us to the end of the liquid assets. The last order of business. Simply, houses, real estate, cars, furniture and such. They've donated some of the items that the felt you wouldn't like or need. I need you to sign off on this list as well. The rest, they've given you free reign to keep, sell or give away. It includes the Malibu house and thier cars. I don't think I've said anything too suprising. Now, I've come to the very last item and I think this might be of interest. Your parents had already purchased your graduation present for you, Brooke. This is the last thing that they wanted to leave to you."

He handed her some paperwork and a key with a small grin.

She glanced down and it looked like a deed to a house, but it wasn't the house in California. _Main St, Tree Hill NC..._ She gasped. She looked up in confusion and Mr. Roberts just looked at her and nodded.

"Brooke, sweetie, what is it?" Karen asked concerned.

"How?" she whispered.

"The new owners moved about six months ago. They bought it for you because they knew that you would want to go back home after you graduated from college. They didn't want to take the chance of waiting so as soon as it went on sale, your dad scooped it up. I must say that was one of his most proudest days. He couldn't stop talking about how much you were going to love it."

Brooke couldn't stop the tears from falling, thinking about what her parents had done for her. She didn't care about all the money, the fact that they wanted to give back her home was all she could have asked for. Karen wrapped her in a tight hug. She had also started crying and Peyton was wiping her eyes trying not to start but it wasn't working so well.

"I just wish that he could see how right he was," Mr. Roberts stated.

"Me, too."

"I think that takes care of everything. It's a lot to take in. Here's a copy of everything. Come in, give me a call, fax, e-mail. I'm always available. Just let me know which direction to go and I'll get it done."

"Thank you, Mr. Roberts."

"It's my pleasure. I'm glad to be of help. All I ask is that you take care of yourself."

"I will."

Everyone stood and shook his hand. Brooke couldn't help but hug him. He handed her a big folder with all the information she would have to go through and walked them out.

"Let me know if you have any additional paperwork. The only thing I need back right away is the notarized statements just so we can tie up the loose ends."

After leaving, Mr. Robert's office, the five of them went over to the cafe to sort through as much as they could.

"What do you want to do, Brooke?" Larry asked. "This is a lot."

"I know. I think, you're right. I need the advisor to help me with all the investing and tax complications. I was hoping you guys could look over some of Mr.Robert's referrals and tell me which ones you like. I think I have to take the responsiblity and take control of it all instead of just milking it and asking you guys to do it all for me. It's not fair to you guys and I might as well start now, but I would like to know your opinions."

"Of course, Brooke. Whatever you need. I think that you're handling this very maturely."

"Talk about jumping into the deepend, right? I also want to sell a lot of stuff. The house, cars, furniture. I don't need all that stuff. I could put it in storage, but I'm never going to come back for it."

"You're going to sell the house? I thought you were happy they bought your house back?" Peyton asked.

"Not that one, the one in Caifornia. It's too big and I have my apartment next to campus so it's going to be empty all the time."

"Does that mean, you're going to move back like your parents wanted? You've already got a place to live." Peyton pushed.

"I don't know. It's an option now. That's too far ahead for me to think. It's just nice to know that it was there and that my parents did that for me."

"Alright guys, I don't know about any of you but I'm overloaded on all of this legal mumbo jumbo. What do you say we have some lunch huh?" Keith asked.

Everyone enthusiastically agreed. After lunch, Brooke asked Peyton if she could borrow the car. She was going to bring some fresh flowers to the cemetary.

"Hi Mom and Dad. I met with Mr. Roberts today. Wow, you guys totally took care of me. Thanks so much. I can't believe you got me the house again. That is the best gift I have ever gotten. Not just because it's a house, but because you knew how much it meant to me. I wish you could have given it to me like you planned. I'm never giving that house up again. I don't need the money and all the other stuff, as long as I have that house, it's all I need from you. This is the last time that I'm going to be able to visit you for awhile. I have to go back to school soon. I promise to be good. I love you guys."

She left and actually took a detour to the house. She still had the key in her purse and she decided to take a quick look inside. As she was digging in her purse for the key, her cell phone rang. The caller ID said 'Luke'.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Brooke. It's Luke."

"Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to check and see how the meeting with the lawyer went and ask what time you guys were driving back."

"It went well. I'm a little overwhelmed but I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. I think me and Peyt are just going to have some dinner and then we're going to head back."

"Oh, ok. Where did you go by yourself?"

"Funny, you should ask. I'm just taking a quick look inside of my old house."

"Brooke! You're not breaking and entering are you?"

"Lucas! I wouldn't break into a house...ok, ok, but technically, we broke into a yard. We never went into the house."

"Technicalities don't count. What are you doing there?"

"It's a long story. The short version is that my parents bought it back for me. They were going to give it to me as a graduation present."

"What?" Lucas screamed.

"I know, Crazy isn't it?"

"You can say that again. Ok, I'll let you take your tour. Just give me a call once you get back. I wanna..."

"Know that we made it safely. Yes, dad."

"I can't help it."

"I know. I like that you still worry about me. Thanks, Luke."

"Your welcome. Call me."

"I will. Bye."

"Bye."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

Nathan came over very early the next morning so that he and Lucas could go for a run before Brooke dropped by. They did it once or twice a week, just circling around campus. It kept them in shape and it also gave them the chance to talk.

"So did you talk to Brooke about yesterday?" Nathan asked.

"Not for very long. I know her parents bought her old house back for her but she didn't go into much detail. She said that she would tell me today and then she called to let me know that she and Peyton had made it back safely."

"Yeah, Haley made them call her too but she wouldn't wait until today to hear what happend. My god, Brooke got everything, Luke. Seriously dude, her parents left her millions."

"Wow. I thought the house was a big deal."

"Tell me about it. What are you guys going to do this morning anyway?"

"I don't know yet. I was just going to ask her what she was up for I guess."

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel, man?"

"I can't."

"You can't or you won't."

"Both. I can't do that to her. She looks like she's doing so much better than last week, I couldn't live with myself if I ruined that for her."

"Could you live with yourself if you just let her go again and she finds someone else?"

"Maybe she belongs with someone else? I really can't blame her for not wanting to be with me."

"But she does, Luke! She's scared. You need to prove to her that you're not going to do it again."

"How?"

"That I can't help you with, sorry. I just think that you should fight for her."

"I missed her yesterday. It's so weird. She's back for a week and I can't go a day without seeing her again. I'm going crazy."

"No, you're in love. Tell her."

"I wish it were that easy."

"It is. It's only three words. Eight letters. I thought you were the smart one."

"Ha ha ha. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. Tell her. You're gonna thank me. Watch."

"What if I push her away again?"

"Run after her this time, dumbass."

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a way with words Nate?"

"We'll see if you're still mocking me when she takes you back. Just do it Luke."

"I don't know."

"Don't make me bring Haley and Peyton to talk to you Luke. You know that they're going to wear you down."

"Why does this matter so much to you guys?"

"Because you're my brother and I've known Brooke since we were in diapers. I just want you guys to be happy and I really do think that you two can only be happy together."

"How about this? I'm not going to set out to do it, but if the openining comes, I'll take it."

"I guess I'll have to settle for that for now. Hey, we better move it. You need to get back before Brooke gets there."

They picked up the pace a little bit and didn't talk anymore. They got back to the frat house with just enough time for Lucas to shower and run into Brooke on the way back to his room.

"Hey Brooke."

"Hi Lucas," she said smiling. While she wasn't exactly looking estatic, she looked a lot more relaxed. Her smile seemed genuine.

They dropped off her stuff in his room and then headed downstairs to have breakfast again. Brooke felt a little awkward running into Mike who wasn't as friendly to her as he usually was. He gave her a brief hello and then left them alone.

"Did you tell him that I was going with you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah, I told him yesterday."

"Ahh, was he pissed?"

"If he was, he didn't show it. He acted like it was no big deal. I'm guessing by the fact that he's sulking right now, he is a little annoyed with me for asking you though."

"I don't want to be the reason you don't get along with your neighbor, Luke."

"Don't worry about it. Mike's got a rebound time of like a second. Besides, he already found another date yesterday."

"If you say so."

"I do. So what did you want to do today?"

"Umm, how about a proper tour of Duke? I've seen classrooms and the student union. I'm sure that there's other stuff here."

"Yeah, we can do that. I think they're having the farmer's market today."

"Oh, kettle corn! My favorite."

"I guess it's settled then."

"Yup, let's go."

They went up to his room, got thier jackets and bags and then headed out. During the walk to campus, Lucase decided to find out about her meeting with the lawyer.

"So, are you going to tell me how your parents bought your old house back for you?"

"Oh yeah, it was crazy Luke. Mr. Roberts was throwing so many numbers at me that my head was spinning. And then right at the end, he gives me the key to my house. He said that my parents knew that I would want to go back home after school and they bought the house as soon as the new owners put it up for sale. I couldn't believe it. It was so weird going inside yesterday. There's no furniture but I could just see how it used to be. Remember the time we were in my room and you tripped on the carpet and put a hole in the wall when you hit the dresser?"

"How could I forget? You made me rearrange everything so you wouldn't see it anymore," he scoffed.

"The hole is still there."

"Really? I would of thought that the new owners would have wanted to fix that. I can patch it up for you if you like?"

"That's sweet. I spent all day trying to figure out what I needed to do. I know that I'm going to sell my parent's house in Malibu and sell or give away all thier clothes, furnitures and cars but that's about it."

"Well let me know what you need me to do. I wanna help."

"Thanks. I'm just going to put it off for a couple days until I get back to California. Once everything settles down, I'll try and sort it out."

"That sounds like a good plan. There's no hurry to plan out your whole future right now."

"You're right, there isn't."

They finally reached the outskirts of the campus. They walked around and Lucas pointed out some of the buildings and landmarks on campus. They stopped at the farmer's market and he got her a bag of kettle corn and some hot dogs for lunch. They finally ended up on a bench in the main courtyard and watched as people walked by.

"I missed this so much Luke."

"What?" he looked at her curiously.

"Just hanging out with you, talking. I don't know. I think that sometimes you're the only one who really gets me. I mean I have Peyton but when we're together, we're like hyper and crazy. With you, we could just walk and talk and before I know it, the days gone by. It's really calming and sometimes I need that."

"I miss you too Brooke. So much."

"Really?"

"Why do you sound suprised?"

"I just thought that you've been mad at me all this time for you know..."

"I was a little mad, Seeing her sceptical look he laughed. "Ok, I was really mad at you but I wouldn't have stayed so mad if I didn't care so much Brooke."

"Don't you find it wierd that after two years, we've still got this thing between us that so strong?"

Lucas contemplated what she had just said and wondered if this was the opening he was telling Nathan about earlier. He looked at her and tried to read her. She was looking right back at him but he couldn't tell what she was feeling and it was annoying the hell out of him. Sighing, he turned and looked forward.

"What are you thinking about Lucas?"

"Nothing. Just agreeing with what you had just said," he said, deciding that he couldn't do it. He wasn't going to tell her how he felt.

"I don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"I just don't. Why can't you tell me? You tell me that I can come to you and talk to you about anything but when it comes to you, you close me off. That's not how friendship works, Luke," she said, sounding more than a little hurt. He didn't know what to do.

"Please don't be mad at me Brooke. I'm just confused. I don't want to lose you again."

"Why would you lose me again? I told you I wouldn't do that ths time. How am I supposed to believe that I can count on you if I don't even know what you're feeling?"

Taking a deep breath, he knew that there was not going to be any bigger sign for him than her actually telling him to tell her how he felt. He silently prayed that she didn't laugh in his face once he did.

"Brooke, its not that I don't want to tell you. I want to tell you so bad. I'm just scared that if I tell you, you'll push me away."

"Okaaay...Luke, trust me. I promise that whatever you say, I won't run."

"Just to let you know, I won't blame you if you did run away...again."

"Again?" Brooke's mind was racing and all of a sudden, she realized what he might have been trying not to tell her. She looked up at him and he looked really scared. She was getting scared herself.

"I...I realized something a couple days ago. I didn't want to tell you because you already have so much going on, not because I'm not sure."

"Just tell me, please."

"I...I...uh...I still love you Brooke. I'm still in love with you."

"I see."

"Huh. 'I see.' That wasn't what I expected. I thought you might yell at me for telling you right before you left again or maybe you would just get up an leave. Huh. Maybe, I should go. This is embarassing." He started to get up but she gently pulled on his arm and pleaded with her eyes.

"Don't be Luke. You're right. It's a lot to take in."

Brooke's thoughts were racing. When she could hide behind the fact that she didn't know that he loved her, she didn't have to figure out how she really felt about him, but now it was all out in the open, and it was all up to her. She looked over at him. He was looking at her waiting for her to say or do something but she didn't know where to even start.

"I'm sorry Luke," she started. He thought he felt his heart just stop beating. He turned so that he wasn't looking at her becaue he didn't want to look like a wimp and start crying in front of everyone. He didn't think her rejection would hurt this much but it did.

"I'm sorry," she started again when she saw the change in his expression and it hurt that she knew she was the reason he was so hurt. All she wanted to do was make him feel better. "I don't know how I feel Luke. This is kind of a shock to me."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it. I didn't expect you to feel the same way. It just hurts a little."

"I just need some time to think about it and I think it'll be better if you weren't there."

He nodded.

"Ummm... I remember how to get back to the student union. I think I'll just wait for Peyt while you go to class."

"Yeah, ok."

"Luke, I hate when you're mad at me. I'm sorry."

Hearing her apologize, he broke out of his moping and looked over at her. Sighing, he stood and pulled her up so that she was directly in front of him.

"I'll be okay Brooke. The most important to me right now is knowing that you're ok. If that means that I'm just going to be your friend. I'll be you firend. Come here."

He pulled her into his arms and gave her a hard hug to reassure her that he would be alright with whatever she decided. Being in his arms, she felt safe. If only they could just stay like that without all the drama. She rested in her arms not really wanting to pull away but like always, reality set in for both of them.

"Luke?"

They pulled apart to see Carrie looking at them oddly.

"Hey Carrie. You remember Brooke right?"

"Right. So are you on your way to class? Maybe we can walk over together?"

"Uh, yeah sure." He looked over to Brooke. "Are you sure you can get to the Student Union on your own? We can walk you over on the way to class."

"No, I'll be fine. I'll talk to you later. You go ahead."

"Ok. Bye Brooke. And thanks for not running away this time."

"Bye Luke."

She gave a small smile and wave as he walked away with Carrie. The smile disappeared as soon as Carrie linked her arms through his and he didn't pull away. Groaning, she could feel the jealousy and insecurity starting to seep in. She had so much to figure out. She started walking in the direction she thought the student union was. She was going to talk to Peyton but at that moment she just really needed some time alone to think. She found a bench nearby and sunk into it.

She didn't even know how to start. She just kept asking herself 'Do I love him?' in her head as if the answer would magically come to her but all she was met with after she asked, was silence. It was useless trying to go back and remembering how good it felt when she was with him because the memories of how bad the break-up would just cancel each other out or vice-versa. She just needed to know how she felt at the moment.

There were so many reasons telling her that she shouldn't start another relationship with him. For one, distance. It would be hard enough without their history to do the long distance thing. Another was that as much as she wanted to trust him not to cheat again, she didn't know if she could risk it again.

She was going through all the scenarios and she was saddened to see that no matter what she did, she didn't see it working out in the end.

"Brooke?"

She looked up and saw Nathan, looking as if he had just gotten out of basketball practice, walking along the path in front of the bench. He took a seat next to her obviously concerned.

"What are you doing sitting her by yourelf? Shouldn't you be with Luke?"

"He's in class. I just needed some time to think to myself."

"Oh crap. He told you?"

"You knew?"

"Uh, everyone knew Brooke. We've known for two years now."

"I don't know what to do Nate"

"What have you come up with?"

"I don't think I can do it. I don't know if I can trust him not to cheat anymore. There's the long distance thing. I just don't see how it could work"

"He's not going to cheat on you, Brooke. Hell, he hardly went out with anyone when you were away. He made a mistake. A big mistake but it's clear to me that you both have some strong feelings for each other still."

"Is that enough."

"To say together, probably not. But to give it a try? Why not?"

"It's not that simple."

"But it is Brooke. Look, I know that you know that me and Haley had our own share of problems. I am the king of being stubborn. But you know what? No matter how much drama we went through, the feelings just wouldn't go away. Sometimes you just can't fight it you know? Just go with them. So from where I'm sitting, I only see one thing you can do. Go for it Brooke. It's an easy thing for me to say because not once have you doubted your feelings for him. You've doubted your trust. You've doubted how strong you guys can be but you've never doubted your feeling for him. The other stuff you won't know for sure unless you try. How you feel, you haven't said it out loud, but you know."

Brooke looked at him amazed. She must have been sitting ther for an hour trying to figure out how she felt and he summed it up in ten seconds and hearing him say it, she couldn't even protest.

"When did you get so smart Nate?"

"Hey, college must be good for me or something. So, are you going to do it?"

"I think I need to talk to Luke one more time and see how it goes."

"Oh, he so owes me big and Hales and Peyt are going to love me."

"How can you be so sure Nate?"

"I've seen the way you guys are when you're together. You're much happier when the other one is around."

Brooke just nodded, still trying to grasp how Nathan had practically made up her mind for her.

"One more thing Brooke. I have nothing to lose. You're my friend whether you guys are together or not. Luke's always going to be my brother. So if you decide against, I'll be okay with it. I want both of you to be happy and yeah, Luke will be happy if I convince you to do it, but in the long run, if you're only doing it because we want you guys to be together, its not going to work out. If I thought that were the case, I wouldn't be doing it."

"Thanks Nate. You've actually helped a lot."

"Cool, listen I go to get to class but I'll see you later. You gonna be okay here?"

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm gonna call Peyt and see if she's free."

"You know who's free for the rest of the day? Luke. Talk to him Brooke."

"I will. I just need a sec to figure out what I'm going to say. Bye Nate."

"Bye Brooke."

She stood up and started walking around just to clear her head. Nathan was right. She could never deny that she liked Lucas. She was absently walking around when she realized that she had walked herself right in front of his frat house. 'Is this my sign? I wonder if he came back after class.' She decided that the only way to find out was to just take the chance. She walked in, greeted some of the guys who were getting used to her, and went up to his door.

He opened it shortly after she had knocked and was obviously suprised to see her.

"Brooke, what's going on?"

Drawing a blank, Brooke realized she didn't know what she was going to say so she did the one first thing that she could think of. She stepped forward and kissed him. He took a second to respond but after that he groaned and wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her closer to him. Instinctively, her arms went around his neck. The kiss deepened and Brooke could honestly say that she could feel the electricity go down her spine. Finally, needing to catch her breath, she pulled away to another groan from him and looked at him biting her lip, nervously but inside all she could think was, 'Wow, that may have been the best kiss that I have ever had.'

He looked a her, waiting for her explanation. When she wasn't saying anything for a minute, he couldn't take it anymore. "Brooke, does this mean that you wanna give it, I mean us, a shot?"

"I think it means that I don't have any other choice. That was amazing."

"Yeah."

"We have a lot to talk about still, Luke."

"I know. Do you want to come in?"

She nodded and he stepped to the side so she could come in. She took a seat on the edge of the bed, her head still spinning from that kiss. He rolled his chair so that he could sit in front of her and he grasped her hands in his, waiting for her to start talking.

"Luke, I have so many doubts running through my head right now. I had pretty much convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to do it again. But, there's obviousely still something there. And I ran into Nate and he helped me to realize that as long those feelings are there, I needed to take the chance and see where they lead because just maybe, it's going to work out for once. He says you owe him by the way."

"I think he's right. I owe him big if I heard you right. You're giving me another chance?"

She nodded slightly and he sprung to his feet and pulled her into arms and gave her small kiss and brought thier foreheads together.

"It's all I've ever wanted. To finally have another chance. I'm going to get it right this time, Brooke Davis. I promise. I would rather die than see you hurt again."

"I know. We just have to take things slow this time. Maybe the distance isn't such a bad thing."

"It's gonna kill me to have to let you go again."

"Yeah, but I have a lot of issues from last time. The biggest one being, we rushed into the physical stuff so quickly. I need to be able to see that you're in this for more than that, Luke. I know it's may seem like I'm testing you but you've got to know that I can't just give myself to you like last time. I have to be more careful because I can't go through that again."

"Anything. I'll do anything you want." She looked into his eyes as he said it and she was relieved to see that they seemed sincere.

"Ok. I guess that I'm going to go back to Peyton's. I don't think being alone in your room is such a good idea for this whole taking it slow idea."

Lucas looked disappointed and was about to protest but he decided not to. He had just promised her that they could do it her way and he was determined to prove it to her.

"Can I call you later?"

"You better," she smiled. She pulled him into another kiss and then stepped back. "I had almost forgotten how good a kisser you were. I'm going to go before I lose my nerve. Thanks for giving me time, Luke."

"Like I said, anything you want. I'll see you later."

She willed herself to leave. As soon as she got out of the frat house, the reality of what had just happened hit her. She and Lucas were back together again! She called Peyton, who immeidately told her to meet back at the apartment. The whole way there, all Brooke really wanted to do was run back and keep on kissing Lucas, but she made it to Peyton's and waited until Peyton could get there. Apparently Peyton had called Haley on her way home becuase Haley arrived first shrieking at Brooke. Katie had let them inside and Haley promised to wait for Peyton before she asked any questions.

Brooke, as nervous as she was feeling, also felt like some weights were taken off her shoulders. She couldn't stop from smiling no matter how hard she tried. It comforted her in knowing that she was doing the right thing. Peyton finally arrived, throwing open the door and yelling, "Brooke Penelope Davis! Tell me what happened right now!" Brooke and Haley laughed as she plopped onto the sofa and stared at her expectedly.

Brooked went into detail about how Lucas revealed his feelings to her. How she asked for some time to think. Her conversation with Nathan, to which Haley gushed about how smart her husband was, to finally how she ended up at his room, kissing him. Peyton and Haley looked like the lovesick teenyboppers after she had told them the whole story.

"That was so romantic!" Haley shrieked.

"So what now?" Peyton asked.

"I asked to go slow. There's the whole long distance thing. I'm gonna play it by ear and see how it goes I guess. Nate was right though, there was no way I couldn't take the chance. Everything was telling me that it wasn't going to work. The only thing that was stopping me was the fact that it was Luke. I guess that's enough, huh?"

"I'm so happy for you guys," Peyton announced.

"Me too," Haley agreed. "I would say that we should celebrate but I think Luke would think we're intruding."

"I think that it's been a long couple of weeks for me. I think I need to just relax for a night and let everything settle down. I hope you guys don't mind. We could hang out tomorrow?"

"Definitely. We have to get all pretty for the dinner remember?"

"Oh yeah, do you guys have class? Maybe we can go shopping? I need a dress."

"Who goes to class on Friday anyway? You in Hales?"

"I'm in. I'll see you guys tomorrow. I should make some dinner. Nate's gonna be wondering where I disapeared to. Bye guys!"

Haley left and Peyton had a study group after dinner so Brooke was left alone in the apartment when Katie announced that she was staying over at her boyfriend's for the night. Brooke smiled as she heard the word, boyfriend. 'I have one now.' She had been sleeping on the couch so she changed and got snuggled into her covers as she watched some tv when her cell phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, a smile lit up her face.

"Hey you."

"Hey, I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were doing."

"I feel better than I have in a long time."

"I'm glad. Me, too. What are you doing?"

"Just watching some tv. Peyt had a study group."

"Are you bored? Do you want me to come over?"

"As much as I want to see you, I'm really tired. I'm going to just get some rest, if you don't mind."

"I really want to see you too but you should rest. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely. Am I still your date for dinner?"

"You bet. I can't wait. Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me Luke. I want this too."

"I love you. You don't have to say it back. I wanna earn it but I just want you to know that I mean it..."

"I know. Thank _you._ I'll see you tomorrow. Night."

"Night."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

A soft knocking woke Brooke up the next morning. She pulled out her cell phone and saw that it was only 5:45 in the morning. She groaned and hid under her pillow but the knocking wouldn't stop. She knew that it wasn't loud enough for Peyton to hear so she finally got up to find out who it was. She looked through the peep hole and her irritation was replaced by an involuntary smile. She opened the door and Lucas looked at her with a sheepish look and a shrug.

"Morning. I'm sorry it's so early but I was going for a run and I passed by and I just needed to see you."

"Morning," she grinned. He strode forward and gave her a soft kiss that escalated into a deeper kiss. He backed into the apartment and towards the couch she had been sleeping on until they both had landed on it with him on top. "Mmm. I was so scared that yesterday was just a dream," he got out between kisses.

Brooke was lost in how good he was making her feel. He started nuzzling her neck as she arched her body into his to get as close to him as she possibly could. She couldn't take it anymore, she brought his lips back up to hers and opened her mouth to invite him in. Fighting herself from losing control, she pulled away when his hand had slipped under her shirt.

"Luke."

"Sorry. I got a little carried away. It feels so good to be with you again, Brooke."

"I know what you mean."

"I better go. I have to get that run in and I'll let you get back to sleep."

"How am I going to be sleep after that wake up call?" she teased him.

He grinned and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead before lifting himself off of her. Sweetly, he tucked her back into her covers before one last peck and standing to leave.

"I'll be here early to pick you up tonight."

"I'll be ready. Have a good day."

"You too. Bye." He turned the knob and opened the door. He was about to leave when he turned to her again. "Um...I was actually thinking. We don't have much time left. I was hoping you could stay with me the rest of the time. Nothing has to happen, I just want to spend as much time with you as I can. We're probably going to be out pretty late tonight anyway, I can see if they have any rooms at the hotel we're going to be at. I don't want to pressure you though."

Brooke thought about it. It would be dangerous to be sleeping in the same room as him but she did agree that she wanted to be with him as much as she could before she left. Peyton would understand and a bed with Lucas would be so much more comfortable than Peyton's couch. "I'll be packed when you come to get me," she said shyly.

His eyes lit up and he nodded and left.

Brooke couldn't help but squeal into her pillow. She eventually fell back asleep. Peyton went to her early class and when she came back, Brooke was ready and dressed for thier quick shopping trip. Haley arrived soon after with the car so that they could go to the mall. They had decided to have some lunch first and it gave Haley and Peyton some time to grill Brooke again.

"So Brooke, Nate told me that he and Luke made a visit to you early this morning on thier run," Haley brought up. Brooke looked at her confused.

"Nate was there?"

"Wait, when was this?" Peyton asked curiously.

"This morning. Early this morning."

"Nate also said that he was waiting downstairs forever for Luke to come back down. What were you guys doing?"

"Nothing like you're thinking of. He came by and said that he had to see me. We may have kissed for a few minutes and then he left."

"And..."

"And you obviously know Hales, why are you embarrasing me by making me say it out loud?"

"Peyt doesn't know!" Haley defended herself.

"Fine, he asked if I could stay with him until Sunday so we could spend some time together and I said yes. I hope you don't mind Peyt."

"No way! I say go for it!"

"You guys are terrible. Nothing like _that_ is going to happen for awhile. We're taking it slow."

"I'm all for being careful Brooke," Haley started. "But think about it. You're not going to seem him for another month. Do you really want to leave without you know?"

"Tutorgirl! I'm shocked!"

"What? Just because I waited until I was married doesn't mean I don't understand how you just need to do it sometimes."

"Obviously, since you got married at sixteen! Way to hold out Hales." Peyton laughed.

"My how things have changed. I want to wait to have sex and Haley wants me to go for it. We've only been back together for like twelve hours."

"Please. That doesn't count. The two years you guys were wasting wanting to be together counts for me, how 'bout you Peyt?"

"Sorry, Brooke. I'm with Haley on this one. You guys have enough sexual tension. No need to prolong it another month. You guys don't fall under the normal rules."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's actually positive. I just think that you guys supercede normal dating rules. You guys have overcome so much."

"I don't know. We were very physical last time and look where it got us."

"True. But last time, your heads and you hearts weren't in the right place. This time, you're both there." Haley added.

"We'll see. It's easy for me to turn him down now, but it has been over two years. I don't know how strong I can be with him in the same bed as me."

"Really? There's been no one else?" Haley asked.

Brooke shook her head.

"Then what the hell are you fighting it? You've obviously been waiting to be with him again. If you try and tell me that the opportunity was never there, I  
am never going to believe another thing you say Brooke." Haley said.

"I guess it always has been him," Brooke sighed. "Even if I didn't know it."

After circling around the subject for another ten minutes, they decided it was time to find something to wear that night. Brooke decided on a plain black strapless dress with a flared skirt to her mid calf. Peyton went for a short midnight blue slip dress. Haley bought a skin tight white dress with thin straps that went to about her knees. After finding some matching shoes, Haley dropped Peyton and Brooke off so that they could all get ready. Peyton took a shower first so Brooke took the time to get a bag ready for the weekend. She was still in her robe, finishing up her hair and makeup when she heard the doorbell ring. She groaned and worked a little faster knowing that they were going to be calling her to leave pretty soon. Sure enough, there was a knock on the door a few minutes later.

"Come in! I just need two more seconds."

"No rush, I just wanted to see you."

She turned and gasped as Lucas came in looking incredibly handsome in a black suit and a silver and black tie for his fraternity. Instinctively, she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck. He caught her and brought her up for a sweet kiss.

"A guy could get used to getting a greeting like that. Hey babe. I missed you."

"I missed you too." She gave him one more kiss before wiping the lipstick off his lips with her fingers. "You look hot, Mr. Scott."

"So do you."

"Stop. I'm not even dressed."

"So, I don' think anything can beat the sight of you in robe."

"Lucas!"

"What? I'm a guy!"

"Go back out there! I'll be there in second."

"Hurry, kay?"

"I will." She couldn't explain it. Her lips were drawn to his for one more kiss before Peyton yelling at them broke it up. "You guys better not be on my bed. We have to leave in ten minutes. Don't make me get you Lucas!"

"I better go," Lucas sighed, rolling his eyes. He let go of her reluctantly and went back to wait for the others. Brooke slipped on her dress and shoes and retouched her lipstick and joined them a few minutes later. Lucas had been sitting on the couch watching ESPN, stood up when he saw her and pulled her off to the side.

"I was wrong about the robe earlier. You look beautiful," he said, giving her a kiss on her forehead and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Thanks Luke," she replied resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh guys, hold that pose. I want a picture!" Haley yelled, pulling out her digital camera. "I'll email you guys a copy."

They were finally all ready to go and piled into Nathan's car for the drive to the hotel. Lucas asked them all to wait a second as he took Brooke's and his bags to check in and had them sent up to the room before they walked into the ballroom that the frat had rented out for the dinner. Peyton excused herself to go find Pete.

"It feels like prom, do you guys do this often?" Brooke asked, looking around at the black and silver decorations and tables.

"Probably once a quarter." Nathan explained, trying to loosen his tie, only for Haley to tighten it right back on.

"We just got here Nate, let me get in some good pictures before you strip down to your wifebeater this time!"

"Fine, fine. Why don't we go get everyone some drinks, Hales? We can go say hi to everyone along the way."

"Ok, you two behave. We'll see you guys in a little bit."

They walked away and Lucas immediately pulled Brooke from her chair onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and gave her a sweet, long kiss. "I thought they'd never leave," he mumbled into her mouth.

"Mmm-hmm," she replied. She moaned as his tongue exlored her mouth and he gently tugged at her lips. There was no one who could kiss her like he did.

"Save that for the room, kids!" Peyton interrupted, standing to a cute red-headed guy. "Brooke, this is Pete. Pete, this is my best friend, Brooke. You know Lucas."

"Nice to meet you Pete."

"You too. I've heard lots about you Brooke. I guess she does exist, Scott."

"Hey man," Lucas said, leaning over Brooke so that he could knock fists with Pete and then discreetly trying to wipe off the lipstick from his face. He was turning a little red. Most of the guys were used to the shy Lucas Scott, who looked almost afraid when a girl came up to him. He lost some of that shyness whenever Brooke was around him. "Why couldn't Tracy make it?"

"She had a soccer game in Kentucky. They left this morning. Luckily, Peyt here didn't mind tagging along."

"Of course not! What am I gonna sit at home while all my friends are partying? I would've found a way in with or without you Pete!"

"I don't doubt that for a sec, Peyt. Thanks for helping me out. Tracy's relieved too. If it wasn't you, I would've had to ask Carrie and Tracy hates her!"

Brooke heard Carrie's name and couldn't stop the frown from forming. 'That girl sure does get around.'

"Oh, I'm sure that she's here too," Peyton said. "She would never miss one of your parties."

"She's actually umm...Mike's date...so they're gonna be at this table." Lucas revealed. Brooke looked down at him and arched her eyebrow at him. He just grinned in return at the irony and sqeezed her hand.

Haley and Nathan, who had scored a bottle of champagne and glasses came back and started pouring. Brooke took one for herself and shared with Lucas as she didn't plan on taking her own seat soon.

Eventually, Mike and Carrie arrived. She was wearing a super short, super low, super tight red dress with matching 3 inch heels. Brooke glanced over at Peyton and Haley and they just giggled. Lucas gave her a kiss on the cheek and then whispered into her ear, "Be nice."

She looked innocently back at him and whispered back at him, "I'm always nice," before she began to nibble on his ear. He had to control himself from yelling out since there were so many people there already. He had to pull her away shaking his head at her or else he would have embarressed himself. He looked over at Mike and Carrie to greet them. He didn't want to be rude.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" He was trying hard to maintain his voice but with Brooke fidgeting in his lap, he found it rising a little.

"Not much. Hey Brooke," Mike said. He was smiling so Brooke assumed he was over her rejection.'Typical guy,' she thought to herself.

"Have you met Carrie?"

"We've actually met a couple time, right Carrie? Nice to see you again."

"Yeah," Carrie said into her champagne glass.

The president of the frat called all of the brothers to the front to indicate that they were starting so Lucas lifted Brooke up and gently placed her back in her own seat. He kissed the top of her head and followed Nathan up to the front. They stood as the president introduced the pledges for that quarter and the new guys shook everyone's hand and were given some paper which was the next step to thier initiation. Finally, the president announced that dinner would be served so the guys could return to their seats. Dinner went smoothly. Lucas and Brooke had scooted over so that there was no distance between them and he could eat her left over steak and she could eat his mashed potatoes. She leaned against him with his hand rubbing circles in her back as everyone finished up and started talking about school and classes.

"Are you bored?"

"Uh-uh. I like being here with you."

"I like you here with me too."

After dinner, the frat had arranged for the bar to open up again and for a dj to come in. Brooke had dragged him to the dance floor but once they started making out, they ended up in the corner, with Lucas very close to leaving a mark on Brooke's neck.

"Lucas, don't you think I'm a little too old for a hickey on my neck?" she gasped as she could feel her neck burning under his lips.

"Maybe, but I can't really leave one anywhere else until we get up to the room."

"Why don't you hold off on that for awhile? I think my lips are feeling a little neglected," she said, pulling them up so that his tongue met hers. Thier kissing was getting frantic but neither of them could help it. They just hoped that they were far away from everyone so that thier moaning and groaning couldn't be heard.

Meanwhile, back at thier table, thier friends would look over every so often and laugh.

"Man, I didn't think Luke was into the whole PDA thing," Pete declared. He had been to how many parties with the guy, with girls throwing themselves at him, and never once had he seen his friend this open.

"Brooke makes him do a lot of things he wouldn't normally do." Nathan laughed. "She's the reason for the tattoo. They got drunk and he got it to match hers."

"When did they get together anyway? He introduced her as a friend on Tuesday." Carrie asked obviously annoyed and not having fun.

"Yesterday, but it's been about two years coming." Haley said slowly so Carrie would understand. "It was inevitable."

"Doesn't she live in California? Do they really think that it's going to work?"

"Yes!" Peyton and Haley answered, starting to get angry at her.

"You have to know the two of them to understand," Nathan tried to explain. "It might not be easy but in the end, they're going to end up together."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Peyton and Haley just glared at her, choosing to ignore her. Nathan's cell phone which had been laying on the table startd to light up. The screen indicated that he had a text message from Lucas. Flipping it open, he saw:

_We're heading up. See you tomorrow. _

Smirking, he relayed the message while Peyton and Haley reveled in Carrie's pout to the news.

Upstairs, Lucas was having a hard time containing himself. He remembered that he promised to take it slow and nothing had to happen but in the elevator up she kept nibbling on his ear. They made it up to their room and as soon as they got inside he picked her up and walked her over to the bed, never having to stop from kissing her. Hastily, he removed his jacket and tie. They both got thier shoes off and they fell onto the bed, him being careful not to crush her with all his wieght. She was quickly trying to get all the buttons of his shirt undone and then removing his dress shirt. Once he was free of that, he broke away for one second before lifting the wife beater off of him. She groaned to see those abs again.

"You've been working out a lot," she groaned just as his tongue plunged into her mouth.

"Um-hmm."

A few seconds later, she stunned him by pushing him over. He was confused then aroused as she straddled his waist and began to leave a trail of kisses from his lips down his chest down to those abs. She licked a trail on the defined lines and kissed every area. She could feel him excited under her and she knew that they were getting past the point of no return but she wasn't ready to stop just yet. She made it down to his belt and was starting to undo it when the blood came rushing back to his brain and he knew that if he didn't stop her now, he wouldn't be able to do it at all. His hands grabbed hers and she looked at him in shock.

"Brooke, what about taking it slow?"

"Lucas,I don't know if I can."

"Do you still think it's the right thing to do?"

"Yeah...I think so."

Sighing, he sat up and kissed her hands. "Then we'll wait. We have forever for this. I swear Brooke, you're it for me. I can wait for you until your sure too." He brought her into him tightly so that she was resting against his chest, her head resting under his chin.

"Oh, Luke."

"It's ok Brooke. Why don't you go get changed? We can just sleep."

She nodded and grabbed her bag before going into the bathroom. When she had come out, he was in his boxers sitting under the covers. She slipped in with him. He slid down and she settled under his arm. She laid on his shoulder with her arms around his waist and her legs wrapped around his. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and gave her a sqeeze so that she knew for sure that he was alright with this.

"Good-night Brooke."

"Night, Luke."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Lucas woke up the next morning and stared at the girl lying in his arms. Even with no make-up on she was beautiful. He couldn't believe that she was there again. He had convinced himself that he would never be able to get another chance with her and yet there she was. It may have been a couple hours before her eyes finally began to flutter and her hazel eyes were staring back at him.

"Morning," he whispered.

"Morning, how long have you been awake?"

"I dunno."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked so peaceful, I couldn't."

"So what's the plan for today?"

"As much as I just want to stay in bed with you all day, I know Hales and Peyt want to spend your last day here with them too. We can check-out, grab some breakfast and get Nate to pick us up?"

"Sounds good. Let me just grab a shower." She leaned over to give him a quick kiss and then skipped into the bathroom. Sighing, he found himself missing her even then. As happy as he was now, he knew that she was leaving the next morning and he wouldn't get to see her for a month. 'That is going to suck!' he thought. He promised to not make her feel sad though.

Once she was done, he took a quick shower and they went downstairs and checked out before heading over to the cafe in the lobby for some breakfast. She wasn't feeling very hungry. She poked at her bacon and eggs before giving up and just leaning into his shoulder.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"It's just hitting me that I'm leaving you again. I don't know if I can do it, Luke."

"Hey, it'll be ok. I promise. We're going to make this work. It's only a month before Thanksgiving. Remember what Haley had said? I can come out a couple days early and spend some time with you out there before you come back. Christmas is only a month after that so we have a couple weeks there. I'm going to call you every day. We just gotta take it one day at a time. Once you get settled back in, it'll fly by. I promise."

"Don't you want me to come back?"

"In a heartbeat. But, I'm not going to let you. I can't let you come back because I'm here. I want you to come back because you want to be here."

"I want to be where you are."

"So do I. More than anything. But what if we're meant to be together in California? Let's just hold off on making decisions until everything has settled down for you ok?"

She nodded weakly and he leaned down to give her a gentle kiss.

Once they had finished up, Nathan picked them up and took them to back to Haley and his apartment where they decided they would all just hang out for Brooke's last day.

Lucas and Brooke were attached at the hip, not wanting to be more than a couple feet apart unless they absolutely had to. When they started getting hungry, Lucas relucantly left with Nathan to go get some take-out for them after some urging from Haley and Peyton who wanted some alone time with Brooke.

"Brooke, have you and Lucas talked about you leaving tomorrow?" Peyton asked. She was starting to get worried for both of them. As much as she wanted them to be together, she could now see how hard this seperation was going to be for both of them.

"A little bit this morning. He said that we should hold off on making any quick decisions but I don't know guys, I can't lose him again. I can't. I'm gonna look into transferring when I get back."

"Aww, Brooke. As awesome as that would be, make sure that this is what is best for you. Don't be one of those girls that drops everything for a guy. As great as Lucas is and as much as he loves you, I need you to really think about this. Promise me, Brooke."

"I know. He's even told me that. It's just so hard. I've held my feelings for him in for so long, now that they're out, I can't control them."

"Lucas will be there no matter what, Brooke," Haley added.

"I know he will, which only makes me want to be with him more. I'm definately gonna finish out the school year in California. It would be dumb to transfer half way so that gives me a lot of time to figure things out. Besides, it's only two years after that, right? I can come out once a month, he can come visit me. We're so busy as it is, I'm sure it will go quickly."

"Definitely." Peyton agreed. "Now, on my selfish note, if you do decide that you want to transfer, it'll be great. We can get an apartment together!"

"Peyton!" Haley chided but laughed.

"Thanks for caring so much guys. As much as I love him, I don't want to be that girl either. I think that was one of the reasons we didn't work out the first time. I'm more indepedant than I used to be. I don't have to sacrifice that just because I have a boyfriend."

"That's very mature of you Brooke! I think things are going to end up fine for you guys. Luke had his momentary lapse last week but seeing how you guys have handled it, I really think that they're going to work out."

"Me too," Brooke reaffirmed.

When the guys got back, they had a nice dinner together but called it an early night with promises to all go to the airport together. Thier friends understood that Brooke and Lucas could use the evening alone so Nathan dropped them off at the frat.

They got ready for bed and she snuggled into his side.

"I talked to Peyton and Hales. They agreed that I shouldn't rush into moving back."

"I don't want you to think that the reason I said that was because I don't have faith in us working out. It's the exact opposite. I know that no matter where you are, no matter where I am, we'll be okay. I mean, look at what we've already been through and we've managed to find our way back."

"That's exactly what I needed to hear, Luke. We will be okay. Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you. I couldn't leave without you knowing that."

"I love you too," he grinned and pulled her into him. They spent the rest of the night cuddling and kissing before falling asleep in each other's arms.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

The next morning came too quickly. Lucas woke up first and knowing that she had to go soon, he pulled his arms around her tighter, causing her to wake up. He kissed her softly and she gave him a small smile and a sigh.

"I better get ready."

"Yeah."

"So, how am I gonna do this shower thing? No one's going to walk in right?"

"No, because I'm going to stand by the door and make sure that no one does!"

"Okay, let's do it."

He really did stand in front of the door as she took her shower and got ready since all the guys on that floor shared one bathroom. The guys weren't normally shy and didn't care if they used the bathroom or brushed thier teeth with someone already in there so he wasn't about to let anyone in while Brooke was in there. It was actually pretty common when the guys had girls over. 'We should just get a sign instead of standing in front of the doors like idiots' he thought to himself. When she was done, she waited in his room for him to shower and change. Like clockwork, Nathan and Haley came to pick them up and then they went to Peyton's to pick her up along with the rest of Brooke's stuff.

Brooke held Lucas' hand tightly as they drove to the airport. Looking over at him, she smiled and mouthed, 'I love you' which he mouthed back. They got to the airport and unfortunately they couldn't wait with her, they could only drop her off at the curb of the airport. She hugged Haley, Nathan and Peyton good-bye first.

"Thank you guys for everything. I couldn't have done any of this without you. I'm going to miss you guys so much." Once she got that out, the tears came. When she started crying, Haley and Peyton started crying until they were all in one big group hug, sobbing on the sidewalk.

"Ok, guys, we gotta break this up," Nathan said, deciding to take charge. After one last hug to Brooke, he finally managed to pull Haley and Peyton away.

"Call us as soon as you get there!" Peyton yelled.

"We're going to find a way to visit you, with our without Nathan," Haley added.

They all got back into the car to give her a moment with Lucas.

Looking over at him, she ran into his outstretched arms. He hugged her close to him and kissed her head before leaning down so that thier foreheads were touching. She was biting her lip so that she wouldn't cry anymore but it wasn't working.

"I want you to call me as soon as you land."

"This hurts so much."

"I know, babe. I know."

He pulled her against him again and stroked her hair as she cried into his chest. Knowing that Nathan was pushing it by being parked in the loading area too long, he knew he had to let her go.

"I love you so much. I want you to know that. If you need to hear me say it, just call me. I want you to take care of yourself until I can see you again, ok?"

"Ok. I love you too."

She leaned up for one final, amazing kiss. Pulling apart, he kissed her forehead and walked her to the door before letting her go. She gave everyone one final wave and then walked inside.

He got into the passenger seat of Nathan's car and slumped down. His friends gave him some comforting pats and then they drove away. He went back to his room at the frat and thought back on how much had happened in the last two weeks. Exhausted, he decided to take a nap until she called him to let him know that she was safe.

She sat at the airport, amazed as well at all that happened. She was sad but she was also hopeful that things may finally work out for her. She ended up sleeping the entire flight home. Before she knew it, she was landing in LA. She got off the plane and quickly pulled out her cell phone, anxiously waiting to hear his voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey..."

"Hey, I made it."

"How was the flight?"

"Quick, actually. I knocked out as soon as we took off. I'm just waiting for my bags. What are you doing?"

"I took a nap and now I'm just trying to get some studying done. It's weird now that things are gonna go back to normal."

"Yeah, I feel like I'm starting over."

"I miss you already."

"You're going to make me cry in the middle of the airport."

"Sorry."

"I miss you too. Oh, crap! There goes my bag."

"Ok, call me when you get home?"

"Ok, I love you."

"Love you too."

Brooke wrangled up her bags and took a shuttle back to her apartment. She got so lost in her time away, she kind of distanced herself from her new friends. She should have called one of them to pick her up but she hadn't given it a second thought while she was in Tree Hill. Sighing, she went inside stopped by her mailbox and pulled out the mail that had been crammed inside before going into her empty apartment. She dropped her luggage in the middle of the livingroom and collapsed onto her couch. Lucas was right. It was weird going back to normal. She lay there for a couple minutes until her cell phone started ringing.

"Hey," she answered, knowing exactly who it was.

"I got worried."

"I figured. Sorry, I just got in. I'm trying to catch my breath."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, just thinking about all the stuff that I need to do is overwhelming."

"Why don't you just leave it all for tomorrow? You must be really tired."

"I would but I have an early class. I'm gonna try and get some laundry and bills done before I go to bed. And I have to call Peyton, Haley and your mom to let them know that I made it back safely."

"I'll let you go then. Promise me, you won't over do it."

"I promise. Thank you for worrying about me, Luke."

"I can't help it"

"I know you can't. It's sweet. I worry about you too."

"Me? Why are you worried about me?"

"Whose going to make sure that you don't get all broody without me?"

"I'm not broody."

"Yeah, uh- huh. Ok, I better go and make those calls before Haley sends the police to my door. Night, Luke. I love you."

"I love you. Night."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

It took a couple weeks but things had begun to settle down for both Brooke and Lucas. They gotten back into the normal routine of thier busy schedules and also managed to talk a couple times a day. He was her own personal alarm clock, calling her at 6 every morning. If it were anyone else, she would have been cranky, but just hearing his voice at the beginning of the day made her happier. They would exchange texts or emails throughout the day and she would call him around 9 or 10 her time to tell him good-night. Sometimes, they only got a few minutes to talk but they never went a day without talking.

He had also gotten a job with the athletic department, working with the basketball team's medical staff which kept him pretty busy along with school and the frat. The extra money that he made though helped with the long distance bill he was racking up.

For Brooke, she was still trying to sort out some issues regarding her parents wills. She and Karen had made out general plan of things that needed to be done and she had narrowed down the list of people she could hire as an advisor. Mr. Roberts was helping out more than he needed to with selling the house. Selling and donating her parent's belongings was a job in itself. She had to buy herself a file cabinet just to keep all the paperwork organized and manageble. Most nights, she would come home with barely any energy to make herself something to dinner and study before she collapsed. She kept her promise though and talked to Peyton, Haley and even Nathan several times a week whether it be on the phone or by email. Balancing all that with making time to go out with her friends and Brooke found that the days were flying by.

Three weeks later, Brooke had come home early after going to a barbeque on Sunday afternoon because she had a design due the next morning. She was sitting at her desk, staring at her design because it just wasn't looking right. Frustrated, she started thinking about how she was going to see him at the end of the week. She was really looking forward to Thanksgiving break. He was going to fly in on Saturday morning with Nathan, Haley and Peyton so they could do the sightseeing thing until Haley, Nathan and Peyton flew home on Monday evening so that Nathan could go to practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. Luckily, he only had one game that week on Sunday. Lucas would stay with her until Wednesday and fly back to Tree Hill with her. Wondering what he was up to, she decided to give him a call. When he had called her in the morning, he was in a rush because the frat was having some fundraiser. Hopefully, he was finished up with that.

She dialed his number but it was going to voicemail. Sighing, she left a message. "Hey Babe. It's me. I just wanted to see what you were doing. Give me a call when you're free. I'll be home all night, working on my design. Love you."

She turned her attention back to her drawing and a few hours later, she was finally satisfied with the outcome. Looking at the clock and seeing thatit was 10:30pm and Lucas still hadn't called, she decided to try again. Again, it went to his voicemail. "Hey Luke, just me again. I wanted to say good-night. Give me a call."

Not wanting to just sit there and worry, she called Peyton.

"Hey, P. Sawyer. What are you up to?"

"I'm actually getting ready to go to bed. You do realize it's almost 2 here right?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'll let you go to bed."

"Is everything ok, Brooke?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You sound kind of annoyed."

"No, I'm not. At least I don't think I am."

"What's going on?"

"I'm just over-reacting. You know me. I called Luke earlier and he still hasn't called me back. It's just the first time I've gone this long without talking to him since we got back together."

"I'm sure that he'll get back to you, Brooke. I think the guys went to some bar after their fundraiser. They just may be out a little late."

"Yeah. Ok, I'm gonna let you sleep. I'll talk to you soon."

"No problem. Night, Brooke."

"Night, Peyt."

Once she hung up the phone, Brooke decided to take a shower and get ready for bed. There was no use in staring at her phone, waiting for him to call. Unfortunately, as soon as she was done, she looked at her phone again and it still said that she had no missed calls. She debated on calling him again but she didn't want to sound like some crazy jealous girlfriend even though that was how she was starting to feel. She knew that it was irrational. She couldn't expect him to stay home every night just to talk to her. She had just gotten so used to him answering though and she didn't want it to change. At 1 her time, she was getting too sleepy to even think about it anymore so she went to bed. She would just have to wait until he called her in the morning. Maybe he was so tired he had fallen asleep as soon as he had gotten home.

She didn't sleep very well. It only got worse when it was her alarm clock, at 7, that woke her up and not her phone. Now she was worried. He never not called in the morning. She called his phone and it didn't even ring, it went straight to voicemail. Groaning, she decided to call Nathan.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nate, it's Brooke."

"Brooke? Hey, what's up?"

"Nothing much. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. Did you need something?"

"Why do you think I need something?"

"It's Monday morning. Why would you call me unless you needed something?"

"Fine, I was just checking to see if you've heard from Luke. He's not answering his phone."

"Oh, that's probably because he's got a hangover the size of Texas. I left the bar at 2 and he was still there. I don't know what time he left."

"He made it home though, right?"

"Yeah, Mike told me that he saw him this morning and he didn't look so good."

"Ok, well at least I know he's ok. Thanks Nate."

"No prob. I'll let him know that you were looking for him if I see him."

"You don't have to do that. Thanks again, Nate. Are you excited that you're coming to visit me?"

"Oh yeah, I can't wait. Did you hear? Jagelski and Jenny may be able to swing the weekend too."

"Really, that would be great. Jenny would love Disneyland!"

"Yeah, Peyt was pretty excited this morning. She called Hales pretty early. Crap! I gotta go, Brooke. Class is about to start."

"Oh, ok. Bye Nate."

Brooke was conflicted. She was annoyed that Lucas hadn't called her yet but she was also glad that at least he was safe. She didn't have time to dwell on it though because she had her own class to get to.

As the day dragged on, she found herself constantly checking her phone to see if he had called and everytime she saw no missed calls, she stewed even more. She couldn't even focus on what her professors were saying anymore. All she could do was think about how much she wanted to yell at him when he finally did call. She had already decided that she wasn't going to call him again. It was up to him.

When it was early evening and she still hadn't heard from him, she no longer wanted to yell at him, she had decided she just never wanted to talk to him again. She had gone to her friend Danielle's apartment because sitting alone at hers made her tense. Danielle knew she was in a bad mood so they ended up watching some dvds so Brooke could concentrate on something else.

They were about half-way throughone movie when her phone started ringing. Groaning, she saw that he had finally decided to call. She also saw that it was past eleven so it was past two for him. Sighing, she shook her head at Danielle and walked into her kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hey babe, I missed you."

"Huh. I couldn't tell."

"Woah. What's wrong?"

"You're kidding me right?"

"Ok, seriously Brooke. What's going on?"

"Did you get my messages yesterday?"

"Yeah, I had a late night. I've been kind of out of it."

"I figured that. You didn't think that I might have wanted a call to let me know, oh I don't know, that you're still alive!"

"You're mad because I didn't call you? I didn't know I had to check in with you every night!"

"That's not why I'm mad!"

"I'm not psychic Brooke!"

"Don't you dare yell at me!"

"You're not exactly whispering, you know."

"You know what? I can't do this right now. Can we finish this when I get home?"

"Where are you?"

"I was watching a movie at my friend Danni's place so excuse me if I don't feel like having an argument in the kitchen."

"So let me get this straight, you're mad at me for going out last night and not calling, but you're at some guy's house?"

"Oh no you don't! You can't put this off on me. It shouldn't even matter but Danni is a girl, you ass!"

After that, she was so mad, she just hung up. She had been yelling and she felt like she may burst into tears. Her phone was ringing again but she sent it straight to voicemail. She took a couple minutes to compose herself and then she went back into the livingroom and apologized to Danielle before deciding that she just wanted to go home and go to bed.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

Neither Brook nor Lucas were able to get any sleep that night. After she had hung up, he stared at his phone in disbelief. 'What the hell? What was she freaking out about?' He had tried to call her twice after she hung up but when she didn't pick up the second time, he gave up and laid in bed. He wanted to go to bed because he didn't get to sleep until five the night before and he had classes and work. He was running on empty so she was choosing the wrong time to overreact.

Luckily, he still had Tuesday mornings free so he was able to lay there and get some intermittent sleep. He finally got up around 11. Doing the math, it would be 8 her time and he knew she only had one class at 4 on Tuesdays. He decided to give it a shot. He hated conflict to begin with and to be fighting with her just killed him. So he called hoping she would pick up this time.

"Hello?" she answered tensly.

"Hey."

She didn't say anything so there was an awkward silence.

"Brooke, I don't want to fight. Can we please just work this out?"

"So you think I wanna fight?"

"Stop it! You're over-reacting to everything I say Brooke!"

"Then maybe you were right."

"Huh?"

"I said maybe you were right when you chose to ignore my phone calls for a whole day. I'm obviously irrational."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Do I?"

"I can't do this Brooke. I can't. Why don't you just tell me why you're mad at me, I'll apologize and we'll move on because I don't think I'm ever going to figure it out."

"That's not how it works Lucas!"

"Then tell me how you want to do it! I don't know what you want me to do!"

"Do you really think that I'm mad because I thought you were supposed to call me?"

"Isn't that why you said you were mad?"

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I went out with the guys. I didn't get into bed until the morning. I was tired Brooke, and I still had to go to school and work."

"Didn't you think I would be worried? I called you how many times? I was obviously looking for you. Didn't it cross your mind that waiting 24 hours to call me back would make me worry?"

"Nate told me he talked to you and told you I was fine."

"Ok."

"Ok, what?"

"Nothing, just ok."

"So that's it? You're not mad anymore?"

"I wasn't mad Lucas. I was disappointed at how you reacted."

"I thought you were mad because I went out and didn't call you. I didn't do anything wrong and you were getting mad at me. What was I supposed to do?"

"Nothing. Whatever."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I don't know. I really don't. Do you think I like feeling like this Lucas? If it were up to me, I'd want to be able to just let it go but I can't."

"If I promise to call you back from now on, will it make you feel better?"

"No, that's not the point Lucas. I don't want you to call me because you have to, I want you to call me because you want to!"

"Of course I want to! That's ridiculous! Sometimes other things are going to get in the way."

"I have school and other friends too, Luke. Don't make it out like you're the only one whose busy. I make time because I want to talk to you."

"I can't believe this! One day, Brooke! I've called you every day since you've left and you're freaking out over one day."

"I can't do this either Luke. It feels like we're going in circles."

"Probably because your mad at me and you don't even know the real reason why!"

"Maybe I don't. Maybe I am over-reacting..."

She had trailed off. She didn't even know what she was fighting for anymore.

"Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"Where'd you go?"

"I'm just thinking. Lucas, I'm gonna go. You're right. I don't even know the real reason I'm mad."

"Does that mean you're not mad anymore?"

"No. It just means that I might have made a mistake."

"About what? Baby, c'mon. You gotta help me out here."

"I thought I could do this. I don't think I can."

"Do what?"

"If I'm flipping out about little things like this, what's gonna happen when something bigger comes along?"

"Why do you think something bigger is going to come along? You can't think like that."

"See, that's where we have a problem. I can't help it. That's just how I am. I know it's not fair to you but I don't think I can change it."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I don't think I can handle it. I made a mistake Lucas. I can't do this."

"Brooke...no. Listen to me. This is nothing. We'll get over it."

"I can't."

"Brooke. Don't do this. You can't just give up like that."

"I don't think I have any other choice. I love you Lucas. I do. I think we should just cut our losses while we can."

"Don't do this Brooke! Seriously. It's not funny anymore."

"I'm sorry Lucas. I gotta go."

"Brooke!" he screamed but it was too late. He heard the dialtone in his ear. He pressed send on his phone again and it went to voicemail so he knew that she had turned her phone off. He stared at it and then threw it across his room. Luckily it bounced off his sweatshirt and onto the floor or it probably would have split into pieces and hit the wall. 'Did we just break up?'

He tried calling her a couple more times but she wouldn't answer. After each time he called, his confusion had slowly turned into anger. By the end of the day, he refused to call her anymore. He didn't even know if he wanted to talk to her if she called.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 24:

It was now Friday and Brooke had cried herself to sleep the late three nights. She knew that they were both being stubborn and that one of them should have just swallowed their pride and taken the first step but she just couldn't get herself to do it. She stared at her phone countless times and she could see herself apologizing for picking a fight with him but there was something she still couldn't figure out that was stopping her. She had just gotten back from all her classes and she was getting ready to go out to dinner with some friends when her phone rang. Part of her was scared to look at the caller id, the other was hoping that it was him. So when she saw 'Best Friend' blinking on the screen, she was both disappointed and relieved.

"Hey, Peyt. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to make sure that you remembered to come pick us up tomorrow."

"I'll be there. 10 right?"

"Yeah. Are we gonna fit with Jake and Jenny and all our stuff?"

"I'm gonna borrow my neighbor's Suburban. We wouldn't fit in my car."

"Cool. Umm...Brooke. I don't know if you've talked to Luke recently but um...he's not coming with us. He told us this afternoon."

"Oh..."

She felt as if someone had just ripped her heart out of her chest. She knew that it was bad but she didn't think it would so bad that he would cancel on the trip. Part of the reason, she didn't rush into talking into him was because she knew this was something better done ace to face and she would have that chance over the weekend.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I don't even know what's going on, Peyt. Did he tell you what happened?"

"Not really. He hasn't been talking to any of us much. He's kinda pissed."

"I guess I don't blame him. I was being difficult. I just couldn't believe how defensive he got and I was just instigating."

"Why? If you realize it, why can't you just make up with him?"

"I can't. I just can't. I admit that I'm not being very mature but he's not guiltless in this."

"Well one of you has got to make the first move. You can't just give up on him like that after all you've been through."

"I know. I just don't get why it's always so hard when it comes to him."

"You had to have known the whole long distance thing wasn't going to be easy."

"As hard as I imagined it, it feels 100 times harder living through it."

"Ok, well I'm gonna say one thing and then I'll drop it. Don't wait two years this time, Brooke. As much as that boy loves you, he's human."

"You don't have to remind me. Listen, I actually have to meet some people for dinner. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow. Night Brooke."

"Night Peyt."

Brooke snapped her cell closed then she stared at it. Gulping she pressed down on the two on her cell.

"This is Luke. Leave a message."

"Hey, it's me. Peyton just told me you weren't coming tomorrow. Umm...can you give me a call when you get this?"

Her phone never rang though. She checked it as she parked her car after coming home from dinner. She walked towards her apartment, thinking of all her options. She didn't really have many except to call him until he picked up. She couldn't fly out to see him with everyone else coming to visit over the weekend so she dialed again.

"Hey, it's me again. I'm just gonna keep calling until you call me back. Please Luke."

As she hung up, she started to cry, thinking she may have lost him for good this time. She got to her door and her tears were making it hard for her to find her keys in her bag. She cursed, not knowing why she threw them in after getting out of her car when she was going to need them again right away.

"Do you need some help?"

She froze as she heard the voice coming up behind her. She slowly turned and was stunned to see him standing there. She hastily wiped her tears away so that she could make sure that she wasn't imagining things.

"Luke..." she whispered.

"Hey."

Forgetting about the past three days, she ran to him and hurled herself into his arms. He caught her and pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder. The stress was finally catching up to both of them.

"Shh, Brooke. Please don't cry."

"I...thought...you weren't...coming..." she mumbled into his shirt.

"I didn't tell anyone I was coming tonight. I didn't think Peyton would have a chance to tell you before I saw you. I'm sorry."

"I'm ..sorry...too." she cried.

"Let's go inside."

She pulled away and nodded. She rummaged through her bag and finally pulled out her keys. He grabbed his duffel bag and followed her in. Once inside, he dropped his stuff by the door and saw her looking at him through her tears.

"What?" he chuckled.

"You're really here."

"Yeah. I am. Come here," he said, opening his arms to her again. She didn't hesistate to wrap her arms around him again. She buried her face into his chest and held on as tight as she could as he rubbed her back.

"It's gonna be ok. We're gonna be ok. I'm not going anywhere."

And that was it. Those were the words she needed to hear even though she couldn't figure it out. She needed to know that he still wanted to be with her more than she needed to hear him say 'I'm sorry.' Three days of being so confused and those four words made it perfectly clear. Impulsively, she pulled him his face down to hers and as soon as thier lips met, she felt as if the tightness in her chest just released. He deepened the kiss causing her to moan. The both finally pulled away to catch their breath. They locked eyes with thier foreheads pressed against each other.

"Wow. I haven't even apologized yet."

"You don't have to. You're right. I over-reacted. I'm sorry."

"Me too. I'm sorry Brooke. I don't want you to ever feel like you don't matter to me. Honestly, you're the most important thing to me. The last couple of days have been hell Brooke. Being away from you is hard enough but fighting with you just about killed me."

"I wasn't mad that you didn't call me Luke. I'm just so damn insecure when it comes to us. I blew it way out of proportion. I got scared that you didn't want to be with me anymore."

"Oh baby, I love you. I was an ass. An insensitive ass. I deserved to be yelled at for how I reacted."

"Luke, can we got to bed? I just need you to hold me right now."

"All I want to do is hold you right now. I'm never going to let you go again. I promise."

She led him to her bedroom and they both got ready for bed. She snuggled up to him and he wrapped his arms around her tightly with her head resting on his chest.

"What made you come tonight, Luke? Peyton said you were pretty angry."

"Nathan. He just reminded me of something and before I knew it, I told them that I couldn't go with them. I went home, got my bag and got on the next flight here."

"What did Nathan say?"

_Flashback_

_Lucas was moping in his room. He had two classes on Fridays in the morning but he had all afternoon off and he didn't need to go into work until school started back up. Since he was still in training for the athletic department, he didn't have to be at all the basketball teams games and practices just yet. He was flipping through some tv when Nathan came in on his way to practice._

_"Hey dude, why don't you stop sitting her feeling sorry for yourself and do something about it?"_

_"You don't know what you're talking about man."_

_"Really? Cause it looks like you and Brooke are fighting over something stupid and you're both too stubborn to take the initiative and admit that you're both wrong."_

_"What the hell did I do wrong? I went out, got drunk, and didn't call her back right away. She flipped out not me!"_

_"Right. Do you really think that she's all worked up over a stupid phone call?"_

_"Look man, I didn't like having this argument with Brooke, I sure as hell as don't want to have it with you."_

_"Fine. Just listen then. Brooke has got some major trust issues regarding you. I think we can both agree on why. So think about it. She's already paranoid that something's going to go wrong. Then you go on and it might not be a big deal to you but you wait a whole day before calling her back. To you, it's you just trying to sober your ass up. To her, it's you not wanting to talk to her. She turns that into, you don't really love her that much and you might cheat...leave...whatever. I know it's not true. You know it's not true. But if you were in her position and you were the one who was cheated on, would you be able to get rid of that nagging feeling that's always in the back of your mind? She's running again, can't you see that? She's running because she's trying to protect herself from getting hurt again."_

_"Seriously, Nate. When did you change your major to Psychology?"_

_"Whatever dude. I'm right. Remember what I told you when you asked me if you should tell her how you feel? You asked what you should do if you told her how you felt and she ran away again."_

_"Run after her, you dumbass."_

_"Yeah, I'm a freaking genius. Well, I've said everything I needed to say. The rest is up to you, Luke." _

_Nathan didn't even wait for Lucas to respond anymore. He walked out and closed the door behind him. Lucas continued to sit and process what Nathan had just said and he realized what he had to do. He went online, switched his flight and called Haley and Peyton to tell them that he wasn't going with them, on the way to the airport. They were really mad but he was already focusing on what he had to do to get Brooke to forgive him._

_End Flashback_

"Wow. He figured it out so much faster than I did."

"Yeah, I owe him big for this one," Lucas said before dropping a kiss on her hair. He pulled her in close to him. "I can't lose you again Brooke. I can't promise that I'm not going to do something stupid, but you have to trust that I wanna be with you. I can promise I will always be honest with you about that. I just need you' not going to run every time we fight."

"It's hard Luke."

"Yeah, I know but it's worth it right?"

"Definitely."

"Good. I promise thatI won't wait a day to call you back next time."

"And I promise that I won't freak out if you can't call me every day."

"I do wanna talk to you every day. I can't wait until I get to talk to you again even if it's for just a minute."

"I believe you." She raised her head and kissed him softly."God,I missed that."

"Me too. Lucky for us, we've got over a week together. You're going to be sick of me."

"I don't think that's possible."

"Good, because I'm not leaving your side even if you did."

They fell into a comfortable silence and she noticed that his breathing had slowed. Peeking up, his eyes had closed. She looked at her clock and it was past midnight. He was probably exhausted with the time change. She leaned up one lst time and gave him a soft kiss. "Thank you. I love you Luke." Then she leaned into him and closed her eyes.

"I love you too," she heard him whisper before she fell into a peaceful sleep too.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Brooke felt Lucas shaking her the next morning and she groaned and tried to curl into his side even more.

"Lucaaas!" she whined, hoping to make him stop so she could go back to sleep.

"Babe, we gotta get up and pick everyone up at the airport."

Groaning, she opened her eyes and found him staring at her and suddenly she didn't feel so cranky anymore. "Good Morning," she said with a big grin on her face.

"Morning," he returned, leaning down to kiss her softly. He started to pull back but she moved so that she was straddling him and she found his lips again. He instantly reciprocated and returned to kissing her. The kissing intensified until she was concentrating on a particular section of his neck behind his ear and his hands had started to wander underneath her shirt. All he could think about was what she was doing to him and he completely forgot about trying to get her out of bed. "Brooke..." he gasped as she had moved onto nibbling on his ear.

"Yes?" she said, not distracted from what she was doing.

"God, that feels good!" he got out before pulling her towards him again so that thier lips could meet again. He traced her lips until she opened her mouth and let his tongue meet hers. They got lost in each other until her cell phone rang bringing them back to reality. With an apologetic look, she gave him once last peck before reaching over to pick it up and seeing that it was his mom. That was a definite mood killer so she rolled off of him to his obvious disappointment.

"Hey Karen. What's up?"

"Hi Brooke, it's good to hear from you. I'm just calling to make sure that my son made it there alright. I assume that it went well considering he didn't call me last night."

"Yeah, he did. Here, you can talk to him."

He shook his head wildly as she tried to hand him the phone. She shoved it into his hand and rolled her eyes. With a quick kiss, she hopped off the bed and went to the bathroom to start getting ready. They really did have to leave to pick everyone up soon.

"Hi Mom."

"Lucas Eugene Scott. I know that you did not just fly to California and not call your worried mother to tell her that you had made it safely."

"Sorry, Mom. It was already pretty late when I got in and I was trying to work things out with Brooke. I was just about to call you," he lied, knowing she knew he was lying too.

"Of course you were. Well, I'm glad that you were able to work things out."

"Thanks Mom."

"Ok, I'll let you guys have fun. Don't forget to pick up the others. They should be there soon and be careful."

"We will. Bye Mom. I love you."

"Love you too. I'll see you and Brooke on Wednesday."

"See you Wednesday." He set her cell phone back on her night stand and decided to see what she had to eat while she was in the shower. He went into the kitchen and was actually suprised to see that it was stocked. He made himself some coffee and a bowl of cereal waiting for her. She didn't take too long and soon joined him looking comfortable in a pair of jeans and a tight t-shirt. He couldn't remember her ever dressing so casual before, except in her work out clothes, but she looked beautiful. He pulled her onto his lap on the chair that he was sitting at and gave her a quick kiss.

"What did your mom say?" she asked before sharing in his cereal.

"I guess you're not the only one I have to work on calling back."

She smirked at him and he began to tickle her sides. "Lucas! Stop! You know how ticklish I am. Stop!"

He finally stopped and she pouted at him. He kissed her softly. "I'm sorry. Forgive me."

A smile broke out on her face and just seeing her happy was all he needed. He tightened his hold on her waist and kissed her again. He couldn't not touch her. It was his turn to pout when she pulled away before it got too heavy again.

"Luke, we gotta go soon. You should go get ready."

"Baby, I don't know how much longer I can wait. You're driving me crazy," he said, not able to hold it in anymore.

"I know. Me too. How about this? As soon as everyone goes back on Monday, it's just you and me..." she trailed and arched her eyebrows at him.

"I don't know if I can wait that long," he sighed.

"You better wait. There's no way anything is going to happen in this little apartment with seven people in it for the next two days!" she laughed.

"They won't care!"

"Lucas! What's gotten into you? Jenny's going to be here!"

"Fine. I just really want to _be_ with you again."

"Me too, baby. Me too.

Getting serious, he looked directly into her eyes and held tightly onto her hands. "I need you to know that there hasn't been anyone else since you left. I promised myself that I wouldn't have sex until I was in love and since I was in love with you, there's been no one else. And I know that there's not going to be anyone else again."

"Oh Lucas, there hasn't been anyone else for me since either."

He brought her hands to his lips and gave them a kiss before lifting her up so he could stand. He gently put her down in the chair and kissed her on the top of her head. "I love you."

"Love you too."

He went into the bathroom and got ready, excited to be able to have some fun with the girl he was crazy in love with and his closest friends. When he was ready, they headed out. They stopped at her friend Johnny's apartment, a couple doors down, so she could get the keys to his Subarban. He was letting her borrow it so they could fit everyone and thier luggage back from the airport. She left him her car keys just in case he had to leave suddenly but he said he would be there all day so she could stop by and return his keys. They still wouldn't all fit in her car for driving around but she had planned on taking them to Malibu later on so that they could see the house and she hadn't been able to sell her dad's Escalade yet so they could use that for the weekend. It would be a tight fit in her car to get there but Haley could just lap it with Nathan.

They got to the airport and held hands as they walked into the baggage claim area with about 15 minutes to spare before the plane was scheduled to land. They found some uncomfortable seats and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes while he played with her hair as they waited. Half an hour later, they heard Peyton's unmistakeable yell.

"Lucas Scott! What are you doing here?"

Brooke's eyes flew open and she struggled to focus so that she could see her four friends and little Jenny staring over at them. She quickly got up and ran to Peyton and Haley, pulling them into a hug. They were shrieking at the top of thier lungs to the point where people were staring and Jenny was covering her ears but she was jumping up and down imitating them too. Nathan and Jake laughed and walked over to Luke and slapped him across the back.

"Luke, looks like someone took my advice," Nathan said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah."

"When did you get in?" Jake asked curiously. The girls were engrossed in a conversation so he guessed that Brooke was filling them in on what had happened the night before.

"Late last night."

"And everything's ok?" Nathan asked, sounding very much like one of the girls.

"Yeah, things are good, Dr. Phil."

"Whatever man. You owe me. I think you guys should name your first born after me."

"Not gonna happen, Nate. C'mon. Let's get your bags. I don't think the girls are going to help."

By the time the guys had located all the bags, Brooke had given the girls a condensed version of how she had found Lucas at her doorstep the night before up until they got here that morning. Peyton and Haley were gushing and Jenny was clapping as if she understood they were all saying.

"Hey girls, you ready to go?" Nathan was yelling over at them.

They followed the guys out to the parking structure and Brooke had gone over to Jenny, lifting her up into a hug.

"Hey Jenny! I'm so glad that you're here to visit me. We are going to have so much fun."

"Daddy pwomised me we go to Disneyland, Auntie Bookie."

"Yup.We're going tomorrow."

"Yay!" Jenny started clapping again.

The guys started packing the car with the bags while the girls got in the car. Brooke settled into the passenger seat. She didn't feel comfortable driving the big and heavy car so she had given the keys to Lucas. When they got back to Brooke's apartment they all settled in her livingroom.

"Peyt, you, Jake and Jenny can take the bedroom. I don't have much room. Sorry."

"That's not necessary Brooke. We'd be fine on the floor," Jake argued.

"No, I insist. She's not going to be comfortable on the floor. Nate and Haley can take the couches and Luke and I can take the floor. That's ok with you right, Luke?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Great, now that that's settled, I was thinking that you guys can get some rest and then we can drive up to Malibu for some lunch and get my dad's car. You can see the house and the beach. I think it's going to be sold soon."

"I'm so excited, I can't believe we're in California!" Haley yelled and everyone laughed.

They rested for about half an hour before they got restless and decided to start the day. Brooke swapped keys with Johhny again and they crammed into Brooke's 5 seater car with 7 people. Lucas drove with Jake in the passenger seat. Haley sat on Nathan's lap which as expected, they didn't mind too much if at all. Jenny sat on Peyton's lap and Brooke sat in the middle. It was about a 45 minute ride to Brooke's house in Malibu so when Luke parked in her large driveway, everyone in the back seat had to stretch out a little.

They all went inside and Brooke gave them a tour of a house that was even bigger than her house in Tree Hill. There wasn't much furniture left. Brooke's own room was completely empty except for her stripped bed and dressers. She had pretty much taken everything to her apartment already. Once they had toured the inside she took them outside and Jake had to run and scoop Jenny up as she got so excited about seeing the pool.

"Daddy! Swim! Swim!"

"Sorry, Baby. It' too cold. Maybe next time we can visit Auntie Brooke when it's hotter. She has a pool at her apartment too."

"Can we Auntey Bookie?"

"Of course. You can always visit me."

"Yay! Daddy, I like visiting Auntie Bookie. She by Disneyland and we go swim!"

"Careful Brooke, she may not want to come home with me," Jake joked.

"C'mon guys, let's get something to eat. There's a great hamburger place next to the beach," Brooke said.

They traded in her car for her dad's bigger Escalade with Nathan begging to drive it. He sat up front with Brooke so that she could give him directions. Peyton, Jenny and Haley sat in the middle row because they wanted the better view, leaving Jake and Lucas in the back grumbling. Brooke pointed out her high school right before they got to the restaurant which was just up the boardwalk from the beach.

"It's gorgeous here Brooke," Haley gushed.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool."

They had a long lunch and then they all went down to the beach and watched as Jenny ran around. A couple times Jake almost lost her as she tried to run into the waves. Brooke sat leaning against Lucas on the sand and watched as Haley and Nathan had wandered off to walk by themselves and Jenny had recruited her dad and Peyton to make her the biggest sand castle in the world.

"I wish I could just stop time," she said as she looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"It can't get any better than this. We're all happy. I just wish I could stop time and be like this all the time."

"I can't argue with that. I have all that I need if you're in my arms."

"When I first got out here that first summer and I didn't know anybody, I would come out here and just stare at the water and think about you guys. I thought about how I would go home and force my parents to let me come back."

"Why didn't you?"

"I did. I was here about a two weeks and all I did was walk around the house. I pleaded with them to let me go back but they said to stay for them, to give them a chance to be the parents they should have been so that we could be a family. I had never seen my parents like that before and it's what I had wanted for so long, I couldn't say no. It didn't get better right away but I never asked them again. I couldn't."

"It's easy to say this now, but I'm glad that you stayed then. Your parents owed it to you even if it was just for a little while. I'm glad that you got that chance."

"Do you ever wish that you got that with Dan?"

"I do but I don't because deep down, I'm better off without him in my life. He only brought pain so I've accepted that I just need to let that go."

"You know, everyone always tells me that they're amazed at how the two of us were together because of how different we are. I don't think that they see that we really do have a lot in common."

"You're definitely right there."

He kissed her hair and pulled her closely, happy that they could just sit there and not have to say anything. Haley and Nathan eventually came back and Jenny had exhausted herself so they decided to drive back to LA. Jenny got to take a nap in the car and Brooke took them to The Grove, which was a shopping center near the UCLA campus, for dinner. They ended up at a Maggiano's which was a nice family style Italian restaurant. Haley and Peyton were excited to see some of the shops afterwards. After a little shopping, they returned to Brooke's apartment exhausted and deciding to sleep early because it was going to be a long day at Disneyland the next day.

"Are you sure you guys are ok on the floor?" Haley asked ass she was already getting comfortable on the smaller couch.

"I'm sure. Good-night!" Brooke said. It was the truth, she was perfectly happy on the floor because if she slept on the couch, she wouldn't be able to have Lucas by her side. He patted the spot next to him and Brooke settled against him. She leaned up to give him one last kiss before draping his arm over his stomach and leaning into his shoulder. It was the best sleep she had in a long time and before she knew it, Jenny had run up to them in the morning and bouncing on Lucas. He groaned in pain with Peyton and Jake laughing uncontrollaby from the doorway.

"Not funny guys," Lucas grumbled.

"Mowning Uncle Lukey," Jenny said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and his crankiness went away. He picked her up and began tickling her. Brooke just lay there and smiled. He was so good with Jenny.

"Morning, Jenny! Ready for Disneyland!"

"Yes!"

"Me too! I'm going to buy you so much candy, your daddy and Peyton are going to hate me," Lucas whispered but loudly enough so he knew Jake and Peyton would here.

"Yay!"

"You wouldn't Luke!"

"I wouldn't? Jenny loves me too much to think of jumping on her Uncle Luke and waking him up. I'm pretty sure that was all her dad's idea!"

Jake looked away guiltily as Lucas squinted at him. He got up and picked Jenny up with him, raising her over his head as she laughed.

"C'mon Jenny, I think that Auntie Brooke has some Lucky Charms with our name on it."

He took her into the kitchen and set her on the counter as he made them both some bowls of cereal. Everyone eventually lagged in and joined in the cereal even though Brooke insisted she could cook them something if they wanted.

"I swear I know how to cook! I'm not going to poison you guys!" she pouted.

"I believe you Brooke," Haley placated her. "But I love cereal."

"Fine. I'll have some cereal too."

Everyone finished up and Brooke told them to leave the dishes in the sink, she would do them as they got ready. Lucas offered to help her, Peyton took Jenny so that they could start getting ready and Jake and Nathan planted themselves on the couches and turned on ESPN, while Haley bugged them to change the channel and they ignored her. It took them awhile to all get showered and dressed but they managed to get to Disneyland a little after it opened. As soon as they walked throught the gates, Jenny's eyes widened in excitement. She was riding on Nathan's shoulders and saw someone dressed as Cinderella and immediately yelled for Nathan to follow her. Everyone followed so that Haley could get a picture of Jenny with her.

They decided that Jake and Peyton would take Jenny to Fantasyland and Toon Town so that Nathan and Lucas could ride some of the faster, scarier rides. Then they would meet for late lunch, early dinner, where they would take Jenny to some shows andJake and Peyton could have some time alone. The first ride that Brooke took them on was the Buzz Light Year ride. It was a big video game in a moving car and it would keep score. At the end, you could see your picture and score and email it to yourself. Realizing that it was a competition, Lucas and Nathan immediately got excited and trash talking only to be grumbling at the end when they realized that Haley had outscored both of them.

"We need to ride that again! How were we supposed to know that the farther targets were worth more?" Nathan argued.

"Later, Nate. Stop whining. There are so many more rides we have to do."

They went on Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, The Haunted Mansion (Brooke and Lucas' favorite because they spent the whole ride making out), Pirates of the Caribbean, and Autopia where they got in trouble for crashing into each other on purpose. Brooke had so much fun because it was like they were kids again and she had Lucas, who was holding her hand the entire time. Haley was excited and insisted on taking pictures of everyone and everything and Nathan was in heaven buying junk food left and right. By the time they met up with Peyton and Jake, they had walked the entire park.

"Uncle Natey! Uncle Natey! Guess what?" Jenny yelled as she ran up to them with her Mickey ears on her head and a balloon in her hand.

"What munchkin?"

"I met Sleeping Beauty and Belle and Snow White and Winnie the Pooh and Tigger and who else Daddy?"

"I don't remember baby, it feels like we've run after every single Disney Character ever," Jake grinned.

"And we rode the carousel and went into the castle and we went to Mickey's house and Donald's boat..."

"Wow, Jen! Are you tired, you ready to go home?" Nathan asked.

"No! I don't wanna go home ever!" Jenny giggled.

"It's so cute how she likes the guys so much," Brooke told Haley as they waited for the guys to get some food.

"I know! She has Nate wrapped around her little finger."

"He's great with her. Have you guys talked about having your own?"

"It's come up. We both want a big family but we want to be out of school first and get settled you know?"

"Yeah, that's true."

Jenny gulped down her food and was already begging to go leave. Brooke pulled her onto her lap and gave her a tight squeeze.

"Are you having fun?"

"Uh-huh." Jenny nodded vigourously.

"What else do you want to do?"

"I want to ride the teacups!"

"You do? Aren't you scared?"

"No! I a big girl."

"Well I tell you what? Go get Uncle Luke and we'll take you on the tea cups. He's going to spin us fast!"

"Really? Yay! Uncle Lukey! Uncle Lukey!" she yelled, jumping out of Brookes lap and running to Lucas and pulling on his arm.

"What's up Jenny?"

"Auntie Bookie said that you and her are going to take me on the tea cups! Let's go!"

"She did? Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh. C'mon."

"Ok, if you're sure. Let's go! He pulled her up and walked over to Brooke, who stood up.

"We'll take her around. You guys have some fun," she told Jake and Peyton. "We'll save some seats for the parade."

She took Lucas' free hand and they walked towards the teacup ride. Jenny sat in Brooke's lap urging for Lucas to spin them faster. They all got off a little bit dizzy. They watched the Snow White Show and Honey I Shrunk the Audience Show before they got Jenny some cotton candy so she wouldn't get bored as they sat along the side of Main Street to see the parade. Everyone else found them a little while later and Jenny went into great detail of what they had done with Peyton and Jake and Nathan had bragged about how they had ridden the Buzz Light Year ride three times and had finally beaten Haley. Haley just rolled her eyes and took a seat next to Brooke who was seated between Lucas' legs.

"Did you have fun Hales?" Lucas asked her.

"Oh my gosh, I love this place. Don't tell them but I let them win. They're a bunch of sore losers."

Brooked laughed and looked at some of the pictures that Haley had taken while waiting for the parade to start. Once it did, Jenny was in awe. She kept waving to all the characters and blowing kisses at them, delighted when it appeared they were waving back just at her. Once the parade was over, they had about an hour before the fire works show, so they grabbed some dinner. Then they went back to Main Street to grab some seats for the fireworks show. Just looking up with Lucas' arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Brooke was so content. As the fireworks ended, Jake pulled Jenny up to carry her. She was fighting hard to stay awake.

"Okay, I think that she's done."

"I no wanna go home yet daddy."

"Sorry baby, you're tired. We'll come back next time we visit. I promise."

"Next time, can we see the fishes? Auntie Haley said we can go to Sea World."

"Sure, squirt. Next time. Go to sleep for Daddy, kay?"

"Kay."

They went home and everyone was so tired, they collapsed as soon as they got back to Brooke's apartment, regretting that they had to leave early the next morning.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Brooke up woke up early the next morning because she needed to get ready for her early class but she also wanted time to say good-bye to everyone. She started to get up but Lucas felt her trying to leave and pulled her tighter into him.

"I have to go to class Luke."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay with me today?"

"I would love to stay with you but I really need to go to this class."

"Fine," he grumbled. She kissed him and that brought a smile to his face.

Brooke took a shower and when she came out everyone was up and about. Jenny was watching cartoons and playing with some toys that Jake had bought her from Disneyland. They had breakfast together and then she went up to everyone to say good-bye. They're flight wasn't until noon so Lucas was going to drop her off at school and then come back and drive everyone to the airport. Brooke pulled Jenny into her lap and gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her tight.

"I had so much fun, Jenny. You have to tell your daddy that you want to visit me soon, alright?"

"Ok! I like yous house. He already pwomised that we go to Sea World!" Jenny said excitedly.

"I'm going to miss you so much. I'll see you when I come home on Wednesday, kay?"

"Kay, Auntie Bookie." She leaned up and kissed her again.

Brooke set her down and hugged Jake, Nathan,Haley and Peyton while trying not to get to emotional. It was only going to be a couple days this time but she still hated saying good-bye.

"Thanks for having us Brooke!" Haley said, also looking light she was fighting tears.

"You guys have to visit again. And you have to stay for more than a weekend."

"We'll work something out," Peyton said, trying to be the strong one but she ended up just pulling Brooke into another hug and Haley had to join in. Brooke finally had to pull away and go so that she could get to class.

She and Lucas headed out and he drove her to class.

"I was thinking that since I had some free time before you finish your classes, I would take this car back to your parent's house and get your's back."

"That would be great actually but are you sure that you want to go alone?"

"I'll be fine. It'll help me pass some time before I have to pick you up."

"Thanks babe," she said, leaning over to kiss him as he parked in front of the student union at UCLA.

"Have a good day!I'll pick you up around 3?"

"That would be perfect. Love you! Bye!"

"Love you too!"

Brooke struggled to pay attention in all her classes. She found her mind kept wandering to Lucas since she had practically been attached to him for the last two days. It was going to be harder coming back to California after this week with him than it was last time. It would be another three weeks before she saw him. At least winter break was another three weeks together. It was after that, they were really going to be tested. They're weren't any breaks at all during Winter Quarter and his job with the basketball team would prevent him from being able to come and visit her more than likely. She wondered if it was possilble for her to fly out to Durham once a month. Money wasn't an issue but her schedule was pretty busy. Sighing, she knew that she shouldn't be looking too far in the future. She was determined to just enjoy this week while she could.

Three o'clock finally came. Her last discussion was particularly dull so she was relieved to see Lucas waiting right where he had dropped her off in the morning. She ran and got in and pulled her in for a hard kiss.

"Ummm. I have been needing that all day," she said as she let him go, but keeping a hold of his right hand as he drove back to the apartment.

"Me too. How were your classes?"

"Long and boring. At least they're done."

"So, I was thinking. We could go out to eat tonight, maybe watch a movie. I can take you out on a real date."

"Oh my gosh, that would be so great, Luke! I'm so excited. I would love that. We can have some time to ourselves. Tomorrow, I want you to meet of my friends. They want to take you out to a club but tonight, I can work on that promise I made to you on Saturday."

"I was hoping you would say that," he grinned, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

They got to her apartment and she immediately started getting ready while he changed into some black slacks and a blue button down shirt. She emerged from her room an hour later wearing a very short jean skirt and a black halter. He lost his breath at seeing how sexy she looked. She twirled when she saw his reaction. "You like?"

"Um-hmm. Come here," he pulled her against him and gave her a long, breathtaking kiss.

"Un-uh. That can wait. You're not getting out of taking me out, Luke."

"It was a good idea until I saw you in this outfit, babe."

"C'mon. The sooner we go, the sooner we get back," she suggested. Reluctantly he took her hand and followed her out to the car. She directed him to a steak house about 15 minutes away from her apartment. They were about half-way through sharing a slice of cheesecake for dessert when he could feel her foot rubbing against his leg and rising. She smirked and he groaned.

"Brooke, you're not playing fair."

"What?" she said, trying to play innocent and not laugh at the pained expression on his face.

"Baby, you need to stop or I am going to embarrass us both."

"Fine, I'll stop but only if you promise me that we can skip the movie and go home now."

"Check!" he yelled, startling more than a few people around them so she laughed. He took care of the bill despite her protests and practically dragged her out of the restaurant. Once he got back to the car he leaned her against it and pulled her into heated kiss. She didn't resist and wrapped her arms around his neck to close the distance between them.

"Lucas...let's...go ...home," she barely got out between his kisses.

"Yeah, we definately need to go now."

He helped her into the car and then sped back to her apartment. Brooke swore he had run one redlight but he insisted that it was yellow when he passed the line and that was all that mattered. He parked the car and they both power walked until they got to her door. She struggled with her lock because he had wrapped his arms around her from behind and had begun running kisses down her neck. She finally got the door open and she pulled him in with her, turning so that she was facing him and pulling his lips to hers. They both kicked off thier shoes, He walked her towards her room while she was fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. It fell to the ground in the livingroom. His wifebeater landed in the hallway. They got into her room and he pointlessly closed the door behind them. He detached his lips from her long enough for him to untie her shirt and lift it over her head only to whimper in realizing that she wasn't wearing a bra.

She grinned mischieviously as she dropped her skirt to the floor to show that she also wasn't wearing any panties either.

"I figured I would save us a step" she shrugged.

"I'm in love with a genius," he grinned.

Standing naked before him, he was in awe of how gorgeous she was. She tugged on his belt and let his pants drop to the floor. He stepped out of those and then attacked her lips again. She pulled his boxers down as she felt her legs hit her bed. He gently lay her down on the bed and was careful to not put all his wieght on her. The sex was like nothing like before. While it had always been good, this time it was more. This time it was about more than physical enjoyment, they were in love and thier hearts were both in it. They were making love. They took thier time rediscovering each other and finding ways to pleasure each other. Hours later, they collapsed onto each other contentedly. They snuggled against each other not ready to go to sleep just yet but wanting to just hold each other. He played with her hair and she rubbed circles onto his chest. Finally, as sleep was taking over, they whispered 'I love you's' and the night was perfect.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

Lucas woke up late the next morning and saw that Brooke was still asleep, her head on his chest. Luckily, he knew she only had one afternoon class that day so they could sleep in for awhile longer. She looked so beautiful in her sleep. He moved some strands of hair from her face and behind her ear and he could see traces of a smile on her face. Seeing her happy and at peace were all he needed to start the day off right. He couldn't help but look back and reflect on the last month and even the last week. She completed him. There were no questions about it anymore. He knew that she was it for him and that he would fall apart if he ever lost her again. It was a little scary to think about but he couldn't deny it and making love to her again only confirmed it even more.

He remembered back to when they were together before. She actually hadn't been his first. He obviously wasn't hers. They had started sleeping with each other after only a couple dates. She excited him. She made him relax and forget about all the stresses about Dan, Nathan, Haley and Peyton at that time. She had called him on it too. Right before he and Peyton had started cheating on her, she had confronted him and told him that she thought he was only with her for the sex. He denied it of course but it didn't stop him from wanting Peyton. She believed him and trusted him. They didn't even get caught until after his accident and he broke up with her. By then, any chance of being with Peyton was overidden by thier mutual guilt. He lost himself in that time. He hooked up with Nikki which only alienated both Peyton and Brooke.

Then there was the scare. He could still remember that night she came to him at the Rivercourt and told him that she thought she was pregnant. She looked so scared. He was scared too and felt helpless. He remembered the night he went to her room and vowed to be there for her and he meant it, only for her to admit that she lied about the pregnancy to hurt him. He was so angry with her then. He moved away with Keith only to come right back because of Dan's heart attack. They started to be friends again and he started seeing Anna. She started going out with Felix. He remembered how much it hurt when he was going to tell her how he felt only to see her with Felix. It hurt him even more to think that as painful it was for him, it must have been so much more painful for her to see him with Peyton.

Then she found out she was moving to California and he remembered watching her wait for her cab thinking he wasn't going to come. How could he not? He wasn't thinking when he pulled her in for that kiss. All he knew was that he had finally realized what a big mistake he had made and he may never get another chance to fix it so he kissed her. And she left and didn't come back for two years. He was lost and hurt but he didn't want to look weak so he pretended like he was over her. Rachel had the same qualites as her. She was wild and crazy but she didn't have Brooke's heart. He realized that right away. There was no one who could replace her. He just didn't know if he would be given another opportunity to find that love again.

His freshman year at Duke, he had resolved to get over her once and for all but he never actually went through with trying to find someone else. Thank goodness, he thought,because here she was again. He still found himself wondering at times about what if he didn't cheat with Peyton. Could they have been together all this time? Three years wasted was enough. He knew that he could never do that again. Yet, he still hurt her the last week. He could see that there was still a residual effect on her from his past mistakes. She didn't trust him completely yet and that hurt a little. He didn't blame her though. He just needed to prove himself to her. He needed to prove it to himself. She deserved at least that much.

Sighing, he thought about the end of the week and how hard it was going to be when she left again. Secretly, he hoped that she moved back, but he wasn't selfish enough to ask her to do that for him. Sometimes, he thought of moving to California. He didn't want to scare her though so he hadn't revealed that to her yet. He resolved to be patient and let her set the pace. His doubts were long gone. He could go fast or slow, it didn't matter as long as they were together.

As he lay there thinking, Brooke started to stir. As her brown eyes focused on his, they both smiled.

"Morning."

"Morning."

"Are you brooding again? How long have you been up?"

"Not long. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have you."

"I'm lucky to have you too. Last night was amazing."

"It was for me too. I love you so much."

"I love you. So what did you want to do today before I have to go to class?"

"I just want to lay with you. I don't need anything else."

"That's a great idea," she leant her head back onto his chest and closed her eyes, eventually falling back into sleep. He pulled her closer into him and fell asleep too.

They stayed in bed cuddling until afternoon. They finally got up and had some sandwiches for lunch before Brooke announced she was going to take a shower and get ready for class.They forced themselves to get dressed and go to campus for her class, grinning like crazy and holding hands the entire time.

After class, they went back to her apartment and relaxed on the couch with her on his lap. They found they didn't even need to speak sometimes, as long as they were holding each other, they could pass the time and never get bored. Eventually though, she had to get dressed. Her friends were coming over to meet him and take them out to a club. She had been gushing and ranting about him for over a month and they wanted to see this guy for themselves. She came out in tight pair of jeans and spaghetti-strapped top. She didn't need to dress up because the only guy she had to impress, she already had. He put on a dark pair of jeans and a polo shirt and waited patiently for her friends to show up.

When they finally arrived, he was introduced to Stephanie, her roommate in the dorms last year. There was Danni, the girl he had thought was a guy and yelled at her about. They just laughed it off now. Nancy and her boyfriend, Aaron. Johnny her neighbor was coming and finally Mark whom Lucas didn't get a good vibe about just from the handshake they shared. While everyone was excited and wanted to talk to him, Mark seemed cold. From experience, he figured that Mark was into Brooke and was jealous. After some initial conversation, it was late enough to head to the club. Brooke gave him the keys to her car again and directed him to a club on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles. It was a new experience for him. He was used to his mom's club. This one, they were waiting in line and had to pay a cover. He stood behind her with his arms around her waist and his head resting above hers. They got to the front and they handed the bouncer their fake I.D's before going inside.

It was loud and crowded. She kept a good grip on his hands as they followed everyone to the bar. They ordered a round of beers and found a quieter corner where they could sit and hang out for awhile. Aaron actually played for the Bruins footballl team so he and Luke were able to talk about sports pretty easily. And Johnny was easy to talk too. Lucas found him liking her friends which set him at ease. He didn't like the idea of her being alone in California but now that he saw that she knew some nice people, it comforted him a bit. The girls and Aaron excused themselves to go and dance but he stayed behind talking to Johnny. He stole a glance at Brooke and couldn't help but think how sexy she looked dancing with her friends. He smiled seeing her laugh with them.

"So Luke, how long have you known Brooke?" Johnny asked, seeing that his attention was diverted.

"I've known of her since were were kids. Tree Hill is a pretty small town. We didn't get close until our junior year in high school, though."

"She told me a little about your history. Lots of drama."

"You could definitely say that."

"I can tell that she loves you a lot though. I mean, she's not super happy with what just happened with her parents and all, but I can tell that you've made a big difference. I'm happy for her."

"Thanks man. That's all I ever wanted for her. To just be happy. I'm actually glad I got the chance to see her with her friends here. It's good to know that she has people to turn to when I can't be there for her."

"We try. I can kind of tell that her hearts not all here but that's okay, now that I've met you and your friends, I can kind of see why."

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure."

"Just keep an eye on her. I don't mean, watch her and see if she's seeing other guys. I just worry about her living on her own."

"I know what you mean. Don't worry. She reminds me of my little sister. It's cool."

"Thanks man."

"No problem, speaking of that. I'm going to give you some advice. Take it however you want."

"Shoot."

"Mark. He's an ass when he drinks. You might want to go get your girl now before she slaps him," he said pointing to where Mark had started dancing with Brooke and was getting way to close in Lucas' opinion.

"I thing I'm gonna do that. Thanks man."

"See you later, man." Johnny also rose and walked over to some girls at another table.

Lucas shook his head as he approached Mark and tapped him on the shoulder. Lucas was a few inches taller and more muscular but Mark was pretty arrogant and didn't back down.

"Hey man, you mind if I dance with my girl?" Lucas knew he sounded possesive but he needed to make a point to this guy. Mark sneered a bit but shrugged and backed off, deciding to dance with Stephanie instead.

"Hey Babe, what took you so long?" Brooke asked as Lucas wrapped his arms around her from behind as they danced.

"I was just talking to Johnny when I saw Mark getting too close," he whispered near her ear.

"Jealous?" she teased, wrapping her arm behind her and running it through his hair.

"Definitely," he responded with no shame, kissing her neck and causing her to groan. She turned so that she was facing him as they danced and didn't seperate for the rest of the evening. Just like the night before, they found themselves rushing back to her apartment and making love until they fell asleep.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:

Haley and Nathan waited patiently at baggage claim Wednesday night for Brooke and Lucas to arrive. It had been announced that thier plane had landed about ten minutes before so they were expecting them any second. Haley finally saw her best friend's blond head above everyone else's and as she expected, it looked as if they were surgically attached to each other, with thier arms around each other's waists. In fact, Luke's hands appeared to be firmly positioned in the back pocket of Brooke's jeans. What she didn't expect was for the identical goofy grins they were sporting. Eying them closely, Haley knew something was up, but she decided she could wait until they had at least greeted her to figure it out what it was. Upon closer inspection, Lucas' lips seemed to still have the remnants of Brooke's lipstick on it, their clothes looked slightly askew, Brooke's hair seemed to be tangled a bit, and then it hit her when she realized that Brooke's buttons were not aligned correctly.

Lucas seemed to notice Haley's questioning glare as they waited for thier bags on the conveyor belt and noticed her gasp.

"What's up Hales?"

"I can't believe you guys! The plane! How could you?" she charged.

"Huh?" Nathan asked oblivious to it all.

Brooke and Lucas meanwhile both turned deep shades of red and looked at each other caught. Lucas gave a feeble shrug. Brooke looked Haley in amazement.

"What do you have ESP, Haley?" she asked.

"No, you guys are just pretty obvious."

"What are you all talking about?" Nathan asked frustrated.

"I think that these two decided to join the Mile High Club," Haley declared and Lucas and Brooke looked every which way but directly at them, hoping that no one could hear Haley's outburst.

"No way? You can really get away with that?" Nathan wondered.

"Apparently not with your wife here," Brooke said quietly. "How were we so obvious?"

"One you're both way too happy looking. I know that you had gone to a club yesterday and you had classes today and then a five hour flight. Most people would look dead after that. Second, Lucas didn't get all the lipstick off. Third, your hair is all over the place. Finally, you're shirt is misbuttoned."

Brooke looked down and sheepishly fixed the buttons. "Huh, what do you know? I must have been in a hurry," she giggled.

"You know you can get arrested for doing what you guys just did?" Haley asked.

"It was Lucas' fault. I was trying to sleep!" Brooke accused.

"What? How was it my fault? You're the one who said to follow you in a minute!" Lucas defended.

"What the hell made you want to do it in an airplane bathroom?" Haley asked curiously.

"He kept rubbing my leg and then we're staying at Karen's so I thought we may not get many chances..." Brooke trailed.

"So how was it?" Nathan asked.

"Nate!" everyone yelled but from the looks on Brooke and Lucas' faces he knew it was good.

"What?"

"Ok, can we stop talking about this and never speak of it again?" Lucas asked still red from embaressment, relieved when he saw their two bags coming towards them.

"Please, you think Brooke's not going to tell me and Peyton all about it later."

"Tutorgirl! Way to throw me under the bus!" Brooke laughed.

Nathan and Lucas managed to finally grab the bags and they headed towards the car.

"So how was the drive from Durham?"

"Crazy traffic, man. We barely got here." Nathan said.

"Thanks for coming to get us. I know you guys must be tired."

"It's cool. We left right after my practice so it worked out."

"So you're off for until Saturday?"

"Yeah, I have practice for the game on Sunday. You're going to be able to make the game, right Brooke?"

"Yeah, I have a late flight out of Durham on Sunday."

"So where are Jagelski and Peyt?"

"They took Jenny to the zoo. All she could talk about was going back to visit Brooke and going to Sea World. It was driving them crazy."

"Jake's never going to forgive you Brooke, just a warning. You're like Jenny's idol now."

"I always knew Jenny was smart."

Brooke and Lucas were dropped of at his house and it was already well past two. Normally, he would of just gone straight to the door to his room but he knew that his mom would be up and waiting for them so they went through the front door. As expected, there were Keith and Karen watching tv on the sofa. She immediately jumped up and gave both of them a hug.

"You guys are home. I missed you!" Karen exclaimed still holding on to both of them.

"I missed you too, Mom," Lucas laughed.

"Stop hogging the kids, Karen!" Keith chided trying to get his own chance to give them hugs. "How was the flight?"

Brooke and Lucas shared a look and smiled. "It was good," was all Lucas good get out.

"It went pretty quickly," Brooke added.

"That's good. Why don't you guys go to bed? You must be so tired. We're all going over to Deb's tomorrow for Thanksgiving so we need to be up early."

"Sure Mom. Night guys!" Lucas said pulling Brooke by the hand before they could say anything else to the two of them.

"Night!"

They had already said that it was ok for her to stay in his room with him but he didn't want tohear the lecture about being careful and all that went with it again. They had given it to him already when he had asked them if it was okay. It didn't matter anyway because Brooke had made it perfectly clear that she wouldn't be able to do anything while Keith and Karen were in the house so any extra-curricular activity between them would have to wait until they were sleepingat his frat over the weekend. Besides, they were too tired to do anything anyway. They just changed and brushed thier teeth before collapsing into the bed.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30:

Karen was actually kind enough to let them sleep in until mid-morning, knowing that they did get in pretty late the evening before. They woke up on their own and saw that it was already past nine so they decided to get ready so that they could help Karen with some of the cooking. Brooke shuffled into the kitchen still in her pajamas and yawning.

"Good morning. Is there something I can help with?"

"Can you peel the potatoes and make the mashed potatoes, sweetie?" Karen asked.

"Sure, no problem."

Brooke grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee and then sat at the table and began to peel a bag of potatoes. Karen was cooking to feed an army. Lucas had told her that in addition to themselves, Keith's parents, Deb, Nathan, Haley, Whitey, Peyton, Larry, Jake, Jenny and his parents were all going to be having dinner together. Karen had agreed to make the main dishes while Deb and Jake's mom would handle everything else. Keith had already left for another run to the market to get some last minute items before the stores closed early. She had gotten through about half her bag when Lucas emerged from the bathroom ready for the day. He kissed his mom on the cheek and then kissed Brooke on the forehead before taking a chair next to her.

"What do you need me to do, Mom?"

"Start chopping up those vegetables on the counter for me. Thanks guys, you're helping me out a lot. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can can get over to Deb's."

Once Brooke was done peeling the potatoes, she began to mash them. She began to feel the burn in her arms. 'Maybe I need to start working out more,' she thought to herself. She mashed the potatoes until she was certain there were no more lumps. She knew that Lucas hated lumpy mashed potatoes. Finised with the potatoes, she easily made the gravy. She excused herself after that so that she could take a shower and get ready. Since it was just going to be close family and friends, she went pretty casual with a pair of jeans and a nice cardigan sweater. It was purely unintentional but the navy blue of her sweater almost matched Lucas' button up perfectly.

"Aww, aren't you two cute? You guys match," Karen teased.

"We didn't do it on purpose!" Lucas argued. "I got dressed first."

"I've been planning to wear this on Thanksgiving for awhile. I wasn't going to change just because you were wearing the same color," Brooke pouted.

"Aww, baby. I don't care if we match," he consoled and hugged her.

"I don't know why you guys think it's a bad thing. You can take some cute pictures," Karen reasoned.

"Everyone's gonna tease us," Brooke whined.

"They're just jealous," Lucas said before lowering down to give her a soft kiss.

"Okay, none of that in my kitchen around my food. Why don't you guys start loading all this stuff in the car? It looks like we're ready to go. I can do everything else at Deb's."

"We're going to drive the truck seperately, Mom."

"Why do we need to drive seperately?" Brooke asked still wrapped up in his arms.

" I don't know what we have planned for afterwards and I don't want to rely on them for a ride."

"Sounds good to me," she said, leaning up so she could kiss him one last time before packing everything up so he could load the cars. They got to Deb's just as Jake's car was pulling up. Brooke ran up to the car and held her hands out to Jenny who instantly hurled herself into her arms for a hug.

"Auntey Bookie! You here!"

"I missed you so much!"

"Guess what? Daddy and Auntey Peytey took me to the zoo and we saw all the animinals!" Jenny's eyes were wide with excitement as she took Brooke's hand and led her inside telling her all about her day at the zoo. They settled in the livingroom with Jenny sitting on Brooke's lap waving her arms frantically describing what all the animals did. Brooke took it all in as if it was the most important thing in the world. Lucas leant against the doorway watching them and smiled. Jenny was obviously in love with her as much as he was. She was giggling and clapping happily.

"Is your girlfriend corrupting my daughter again?" Jake joked as he stepped in with the pies for dessert. Lucas took a couple boxes to help him out and they went into the kitchen.

"I don't think we're going to be able to her away from Brooke today."

"Sucks for you, huh?"

They both laughed. After they got all the food inside and where thier mom's wanted everything, they went into the livingroom where Nathan was already planted watching the early football game. Lucas plumped down next to Brooke and ruffled Jenny's hair.

"Hey munchin, what ya up to?"

"I went to the zoo!"

"You did? What did you do there?"

Jenny happily went into her story again and crawled from Brooke's lap and into Lucas'. Brooke laughed at how excited the little girl was. She leant against Lucas' shoulder and listened to thier conversation about how Lucas was scared of the snakes but Jenny touched one. She continued on to tell them about how the monkeys were fighting and the elephants stunk until Jake's mom called her over so she could have a little snack.

"She reminds me of me a little bit."

"How?" he asked, draping his arm over her shoulder and leaning his head against hers.

"How she never stops talking? She can go on and on. It's cute when she does it."

"I think it's cute when you do it."

"You have to say that."

"No I don't. Everything you do is cute to me."

"Even when I'm yelling at you for no reason."

"No, that's just hot."

"Lucas!"

"What? It's the truth."

"You're impossible!"

"You love me."

"Sometimes, I don't even know why!"

"Isn't that when you know it's the real thing?" he asked, suddenly getting serious.

"Aww, Lucas, I do love you..." she leaned in to give him a quick kiss but he pulled her back to deepen it.

"I think that I have a lot to be thankful today. I love you," he kissed her on the tip of her nose and she leaned into him.

"That reminds me, what time is is?"

"Like 1:15"

"What time is dinner?"

" I don't think my grandparents are getting in until like 5. I'm guessing like 6."

"Can you drive me to the cemetary? I want to drop off some flowers."

"Let's go!" he slapped her thigh as he got up and then pulled her up. He went into the kitchen to tell his mom that they would be right back. He stopped at a local flower shop so she could buy some flowers and then drove her over to the cemetary. Holding her hand, they walked over to her parent's grave which now had a newly placed gravestone. He let go of her so she could have some time alone. He took the little flower container and walked over to the fountain to fill it with water for the flowers. She knelt down next to the headstone and traced her parent's names.

"Hi Mom, Dad. Happy Thanksgiving. The headstone is really nice I think. I hope you like it. I'm only back for a couple days before I have to go back to school. I'm doing pretty well this quarter. It's getting better day by day. I hope you're not too worried about me. I miss you guys though. There's actually a couple things I've been thinking about. I wish that you guys were here to help me out. First of all, Lucas and I are back together. Crazy, huh? Remember all the talks we had that summer, Mom? I just couldn't deny it anymore, just like you said. I love him so much. It's hard being so far from him and being far from everyone in Tree Hill. I've been thinking about transeferring to Duke a lot lately. I know what you're thinking, 'Don't move back for some boy, Brooke.' It's not just that Daddy. Peyton's here. Haley and Nate. Karen. Keith. Jake. Jenny. Even you guys are here. They're my family and it's hard being so far away sometimes. I've looked into Duke's architectural program and it's just as good as LA's. I'm still undecided. I wanna be sure. It's just really strong right now. I want to be here all the time. I know that the biggest reason is Luke. I think that's also the biggest reason I don't want to move back. I'm scared. I want it to work with him so bad but what if it doesn't? Then I'll look like a big fool. It's so hard growing up. Ok, well I better get going. We're all having dinner at Deb's and Karen is going crazy with the cooking. I'll be back in another month. Karen invited me for Christmas too. Hopefully, I won't be so confused then. I love you guys."

She turned and just as she suspected Lucas was watching her but he had kept enough ofa distance from her so that he wouldn't be able to hear her. As soon as she turned and smiled at him, he walked forward with the flowers and placed them into the grave. She stood and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her in tightly and could feel her softly crying into his chest.

"You okay?"

He felt her nodding her head so he just squeezed her tighter. "It still hurts Luke."

"I know, babe. It'll get better. I promise."

He held her until she could stop crying. When she had composed herself and taken a deep breath, he kissed the top of her head and held her hand tightly. "Ready?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Luke."

"You don't have to thank me. I want to be here for you, Brooke."

She shook her head, understanding and let him lead her back to the truck. Before he let her get in, he gave her a small kiss and then helped her in. They didn't say anything on the way back to Deb's. He figured he would give her some time to compose herself before she had to see everyone again. When they pulled back into the driveway, there were a few more cars in the driveway. It looked like Whitey and Keith's parents had already arrived. They walked back inside, still holding hands.

Whitey engulfed her in a big hug.

"It's good to see you again Miss Davis. I'm sorry to hear about your mom and dad."

"Thanks, Whitey. It's good to see you again too."

Whitey returned to the sofa to watch the game with Nathan and Jake who hadn't moved since they left. Karen was waving for both of them to come over.

"C'mon, I think that my mom wants to introduce you to my grandparents."

"Actually, I've already met them."

"How?"

"When I was younger, my parents would drag me to some of Deb and Dan's parties. They were there sometimes."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

They reached Karen and Brooke gave the older couple a small smile.

"Hi mom, grandma, grandpa. We're back." Since Dan's death, his parents had made more of an effort to be apart of Lucas' life and he was slowly getting used to being around them. He gave his grandma a kiss on the cheek and shook his grandpa's hand.

"Hi Mr and Mrs Scott. It's nice to see you again."

"Brooke, its been so long. You've become such a pretty young lady. I'm sorry to hear about your parents dear," his grandma said, taking a hold of her hand.

"Thank you Mrs. Scott," Brooke still hadn't mastered a response to that statement. Sensing her uneasiness, Lucas squeezed her hand.

"We're gonna go watch some television until dinner, if that's ok?" he looked towards his mom, hoping she understood that Brooke was still a little emotional from her trip to the cemetary.

"Of course, go be with your friends. Try to get Jake and Nate to stop yelling at the tv, will you? It's scaring Jenny," Karen said, coming through like he knew she would.

They went back into the livingroom which was full of people now. Keith, Larry and Whitey were seated on one couch. Nathan and Jake were on another. Haley and Peyton were playing with Jenny on the floor. Royal, Lucas' grandfather had taken the recliner. There was really only one other place to sit so they shoved Nathan down the couch so Lucas could sit and then he pulled Brooke down onto his lap. She protested and said that she would just sit on the floor and play with Jenny but he wouldn't let her get off and she eventually stopped trying. She leaned against his chest staring at the football game that they were all engrossed with but she found her eyes getting heavy.

"Babe, you want to take a nap in one of the rooms."

"I'm good," she mumbled and buried her face into his shirt, eventually falling asleep.

"Do you want to move her to a room, Luke?" Nathan asked when he saw that she had fallen asleep.

"Nah, she didn't want to. I don't want to wake her up anyway. She's been so busy, she needs all the rest she can get."

"I can only imagine what the last month has been like for her."

"Yeah, even this break isn't very relaxing for her. I think she needs a week of just doing nothing just to catch up."

"I think we could all use one of those. I don't see it happening anytime soon though."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

They eventually turned thier attention back to the game and Jake and Nathan jumped up and yelled for a particulary bad call causing Lucas to shift and Brooke to jolt in his arms. He held onto her to steady her and he smacked Nathan across the chest once he sat back down again.

"Sorry, baby."

"It's ok. I didn't want to sleep through Thanksgiving anyway. How long was I out?"

"Only like half an hour."

"Oh, I'm gonna go to the restroom and then see if you mom needs any help."

Eventually, everything was ready. Brooke and Haley set the table in Deb's formal dining room so that everyone would be able to fit and called everyone in just as Karen had placed the turkey in the center. Mae led everyone in grace and then Royal carved the turkey before everyone started digging in.

After dinner, everyone gathered in the livingroom again with most of them on the floor playing Candyland with Jenny. It was Jake Jenny and Peyton, Nathan and Haley, and Lucas and Brooke. Brooke was sitting crosslegged on the floor between Lucas' legs. He would roll the dice and she would move their little man.

"I think Nate's cheating!" Jake cried.

"What the hell? How can I cheat at Candyland dude?"

"Language boys!" Deb scolded.

"If you're not cheating than you can't count!"

"Do you want to take this outside Jagelski?"

"Daddy, Uncle Natey. It's just a game. No yelling."

"Sorry baby." "Sorry Jenny." They mumbled with guilty faces.

Meanwhile Peyton and Haley are laughing hysterically and Lucas is content in just holding onto Brooke. He rested his head atop hers and played with her hands as Jake and Nathan agreed to start over to be fair. They had just taken thier turn again when his cell phone started to ring. He shifted Brooke a little so that he could get to it in his pocket and smiled when he saw that it was Mouth.

"Hey dude, Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Hey Luke. Happy Thanksgiving! What are you up to?"

"We're at Nate's playing Candyland with Jenny. What's up?"

"Skills and Fergie stopped by on the way to the Rivercourt. We wanted to know if you guys wanted to join us? It's been so long since we've gotten to hang out."

"Really? Hold on let me check," he put the phone down and covered the receiver so that Mouth wouldn't hear him yelling. "Yo guys! You up for a game at the court? Mouth, Skills and Fergie are heading over there now."

"Hell yeah," they both answered. "I'm gonna call Tim," Nathan added.

"Hey Mouth, yeah, we'll meet you there."

"Great. Oh! Bevin's here too. She wants to make sure that you bring Peyton and Haley too."

"Tell her I can do one better than that."

"How?"

"You'll see. It'll be great. Trust me."

"Cool, see you in a few."

"Bye Mouth." He hung up the phone and looked down at Brooke who had been listening in."He's going to be so excited to see you. I haven't talked to him since we before you came back last time. He knew you were coming down but he wasn't able to make it down. I never got a chance to tell him that we got back together."

"Aww, I missed Mouth. He sent me a sweet card. I haven't had a chance to send the Thank You cards. I can do it in person."

"He said that Bev's gonna be there too."

"Aww, Bevin!"

"Get up babe so we can go."

Everyone started to get up while Jake tried to convince Jenny that going to the basketball court would be more fun than playing Candyland but she was looking at him doubtfully.

"C'mon Jenny. It'll be fun. We're going to the park. You love the park!"

"I no wanna play basketball, daddy. I playing Candyland."

"Why don't you leave her Jake? We'll watch her," his mom offered.

"Do you want to stay with Grammy, Jenny?"

"No, everyone stay!"

"Please baby," Jake pleaded but Jenny kept her pout strong.

Brooke felt bad for Jake. She knew that he only got to have fun with his friends every so often so she decided to help him out. She knelt down next to Jenny holding out her sweater.

"Don't you want to come with us Jenny? We can cheer for Daddy! I can teach you how to be a cheerleader!"

"We dance!"

"Yup! With pom-poms!"

"I like pom-poms! Okay. I go with Auntey Bookie!"

"Thanks Brooke! I owe you one!" Jake grinned and put the sweater on his daughter.

"Where are you going to get pom poms?" Peyton asked.

"Come with me! Hey Nate, can I grab something from your room?"

"What?"

"You'll see."

They went upstairs like they had so many times in High School and went up to Nathan's room which Deb really hadn't touched since Nathan moved into his own apartment. She went into his closet and just as she suspected, there were a pair of blue and white pom poms on the top shelf.

"Hey those are my practice pom poms! How did you know they were here?"

"Please when you and Nathan were together, you never brought them to practice," Brooke rolled her eyes. "Nathan better just pray that Haley doesn't think about it too much."

They went back downstairs and Brooke handed the pom poms to Jenny just as Haley hit Nathan on the chest.

"What is it beat up on Nate day?" he yelled, rubbing his chest.

Jenny had immediately started jumping up and down and shaking the pom poms and her butt, not to Jake's amusment.

"Uh-oh Jake, she's a natural. Better go buy that shotgun now!" Lucas needled as he came up from behind Brooke and wrapped his arm around her waist. She wrapped both her arms around him and pretended to hide from Jake.

"Brooke, I swear you have undone four years of hard parenting in just this one week with my daughter," Jake chastised. Brooke just laughed.

They finally managed to get to the Rivercourt, driving thier cars up to the edge and leaving their headlights on to illuminate the court. Sitting in the passenger seat of Lucas' truck, she saw Tim, Fergie and Skills were playing and they looked almost exactly the same. Mouth was sitting on the picnic table next to Bevin who but instead of the short style Brooke remembered, had grown her hair out to her waist. It was definately a different look. Next to Bevin was a girl Brooke had never met but the girls bright red hair immediately let her know that it was Rachel, the girl Lucas had gone out with after her. She instantly felt a wave of jealousy run through her. She was gorgeous and Brooke could tell that she knew it too.

Getting nervous all of the sudden, she got of of the truck and caught up to Lucas, who was waiting with his hand outstretched. She took it and walked partially hidden by him towards everyone. The guys had stopped playing when they noticed the cars and Bevin and Rachel looked up from their conversation. It took Bevin about twenty seconds to realise that there was an extra girl with them but when she did, she hopped off from the bench and screamed.

"Brooke!" She ran up to Brooke and pulled her into a big hug.

"Hey Bev!"

"Oh my god! I can't believe you're here and you're holding Lucas' hand. When did that happen?"

"It's been about a month."

"Oh my god! You have to tell me everything." She linked her arm through Brooke's and walked her towards where everyone else was greeting each other. Brooke greeted Tim, Fergie, Skills and Mouth with more hugs.

"It's good to see you Brooke!" Mouth said genuinely.

"You too Mouth!"

"When did you get here?"

"Only last night."

"Ahem, I don't believe we've been introduced," Rachel said with a smile that Brooke couldn't tell if it was real or not. Brooke looked over at Haley who was rolling her eyes and tried to stifle a giggle.

Lucas could tell that everyone was waiting for him to make the awkward introduction so he stepped up and draped his arm over Brooke's shoulder. "Brooke, this is Rachel Gattina. Rachel, this is Brooke Davis. You must've heard lots of stories about her, huh?" he said nervously.

"Nice to meet you Brooke. You were a bit of a legend when I moved here Senior Year. I had a lot to live up to."

"Nice to meet you too. I've heard a little about you too."

"So what do you say fellas? Let's get this game started!" Nathan yelled once that was over. Lucas kissed Brooke's forehead and with a sheepish grin, he ran to join the guys. Jenny an Peyton went off to the side to "cheer" for Jake while Haley and Brooke took seats opposite of Bevin and Rachel on the bench.

"So Brooke, start from the beginning? What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much. Just school, you know same as you guys."

"Yeah, yeah. You know that's not what I mean. What's up with Lucas?"

Brooke blushed. It was still pretty new so she was a litlle embarressed to talk about it. "There's not much to tell. We got back together about a month ago when I was in town for the funeral."

"Oh my gosh, how insensitive of me. I'm so sorry about that Brooke. Did you get my card? I got the address from Peyt."

"I did thanks. It meant a lot."

"Skills told me that you went up to Duke or else I would have come down if I could."

"That's ok. Speaking of Skills, what's up with that Bev? I didn't even know you guys knew each other!"

It was Bevin's turn to blush. "Yeah, I knew of him but we didn't hang with the same crowd but when Rachel and um...Luke were hanging out, we ran into each other a couple times and it just happened."

Brooke decided to ignore the whole part about Rachel and Lucas. "I was so suprised when Peyt told me. I'm happy for you guys though."

"Thanks! Now, stop avoiding the subject. How about you and Lucas?"

"You haven't changed at all Bev," Brooke laughed. "We just decided to try again you know. We had some unresolved stuff when I left. We'll see where it goes. It's hard with the distance but we're working on it."

"Where exactly do you go?" Rachel joined in.

"UCLA. I've been in California since I moved away."

"Wow, that must be hard having him so far away and not getting to see him."

"Of course, but we're gonna do what we gotta do."

"So Rachel,what are you up to these days?" Haley decided to change the subject seeing that Brooke was obviously uncomfortable.

"I'm going to NYU. I'm a theatre major."

The conversation effectively stalled after that so the girls turned thier attention to the boys. Brooke walked over to Peyton and Jenny and joined them in the little cheer that Jenny had learned.

"So what do you think of Rachel?" Peyton asked, nudging Brooke's shoulder with her own.

"I can see some similarites. She's outspoken like me. Bevin seems to like her."

"Bevin likes everyone."

After about two hours of playing basketball, the girls were getting cold and bored so they called the boys to make them go home now.

"We have to do something before everyone has to head back to school," Mouth suggested.

"I know this place that..." Tim started only to be assaulted with a bunch of "No Tim's!"

"Why don't we just hang out at TRIC tomorrow? I think Karen has some local band that supposed to be really good," Peyton said. "I know Nate has to be back in Durham, Saturday."

"We can't do anything at TRIC, our moms are going to be there!" Nathan whined.

"Fine, we can start the night off at TRIC. We can go to the Blue Post afterwards. It's on you if you're hungover for your practice." Peyton added.

"It'll be worth it!" Nathan laughed.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Bevin squealed and clapped her hands together.

"I guess that means I'm in," Skills said.

After everyone agreed, they started gathering up all thier things and going thier seperate ways home. Brooke, Haley and Peyton made plans to meet up early so that they could go shopping for the day after Thanksgiving sales. Brooke sat on the back of Lucas' pick-up waiting for him to finish talking with Mouth. He finally came up to her and settled in between her legs. She leaned forward gave him a light kiss.

"You can do better than that," he leaned in to kiss her again but she pulled away.

"Eww, Luke! You're all sweaty!"

He grabbed a hold of her hands so she couldn't push him away anymore and then pulled her so that he could kiss her again. As soon as thier lips met, she stopped fighting and wrapped her arms around his neck herself. She got goosebumps everytime he kissed her. She ran her hands through his hair and he slipped his hand under her sweater and stroked her back. She had slipped her tongue into his mouth, causing him to groan.

"See, now that was much better," he grinned when he finally pulled away from her. "Let's go home. I promise to take a shower and we can continue where we left off."

"No way! None of that with your mom and Uncle there. You know the rules!"

"Brooke! I promise, we can be really quiet."

"Un-uh."

"Pretty please. You know you want to.I can't wait until Saturday."

"Sorry, babe. You're gonna have to."

"What if we just finish up here?"

"Luke!"

"What? I had to give it a try. Fine."

"You still have to take a shower though or you're sleeping on the couch."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

Lucas rolled over the next morning hoping to bring Brooke closer over to him but he got an armful of blankets instead. He lifted his head and pouted seeing that she was already gone and a note had been left on the pillow.

_Broody,_

_Went shopping with your mom and the girls. You looked too cute to wake up. Could be gone all day...I love you!_

_xoxo_

_Brooke_

She didn't come back with his mother until late afternoon, both dropping on the couch in apparent exhaustion and asking him to help them with the bags that were left in the car. He looked in amazement as it was filled to capacity, taking three trips before he finally got all the bags inside.

"Did you guys buy out the whole mall?"

"Seems like it, huh?" Brooked grinned as he plopped down on the sofa next to her and pulled her underneath his arm. "Everyone knows that the best sales are the day after Thanksgiving. It's never too early to start your Christmas shopping, Luke."

"So is my gift in one of those bags?" he asked curiously.

"What makes you think I'm getting you a gift?"

He pushed out his lower lip as far as he could and mocked wiping away a tear. She laughed and lightly slapped his arm before kissing him softly. "Hi."

"Hi, I missed you today."

"Me too," she said, leaning to kiss him again.

"So if you weren't shopping for me, what did you get?"

"I really did start Christmas shopping. Mostly for everyone here, I'm going to leave them in you closet if you don't mind? It doesn't really make sense to bring everything to California and then bring everything back."

"Makes sense, considering my room is practically your room."

"I've actually been thinking about that. I think that when I come back for winter break, I'm gonna start buying furniture and stuff for my house so that I can start using it. I mean what good is it if I leave it empty?"

Lucas thought about it and while it made sense that she should start using her house, he was a little disappointed that she wasn't going to stay with him for winter break. She must have seen the change in his expression because she reached out and gently stroked his cheek.

"What's wrong, Luke? Did I say something?"

"No, I guess I'm just sad that you won't be staying with me when you come next time."

An involuntary smile came to her face at his sweet words. "Aww, Luke. It's not that I don't want to stay with you, I just really want to fix everything up as much as I can. It's home, you know?"

"I know and I understand why. I'm just being selfish. I really like waking up with you there and we're apart so much as it is."

"Well, I can't move in right away. There's no furniture there right now. I'll probably have to stay somewhere else for a couple days. And you can always stay with me, you know? It gets lonely in that big house by myself."

"I can do that."

"There's another upside to it too you know? We can you know...there since you're mom isn't around," she said this close to his ear and began to lightly suck on his neck.

"I'm beginning to really like this idea. Maybe we should stay there tonight," he suggested.

"Lucas!" she laughed.

"You didn't have to stop!" he argued.

She sighed in contenment at how just sitting there and talking with him made her happy. She rested her head on his chest and he began to play with the ends of her hair.

"Your mom would probably like the idea. As great as she's been, I don't think she's entirely comfortable with us sharing a room."

"I don't see why not, it's not like we've been doing anything." he grumbled.

"Frustrated much?" she needled him.

"Yes!" he exasperated.

"Poor Lukey," she patronized but followed with a kiss. He took this opportunity to pull her up so that she was now sitting on his lap. He began to kiss her neck

"Lucas..." she moaned out not really knowing if she meant for him to keep going or to stop. He of course took it for the former and his hand had crept underneath her shirt. Once she felt the cool air on her skin, she came back to her senses. "Lucas, you're mom might walk in. Stop!"

"I can't help it Brooke," he said without an ounce of shame. All she could do was shake her head and get up, only for him to grab her hands and pull her back down to him "Okay, okay. I'll behave. I promise. Don't go."

"I have to get ready. I bought this dress and you're going to love it!" She didn't give him a chance to protest this time, jumping up and heading towards their room with one of the bags that she had come home with.

An hour and a half later, they met everyone at the cafe for dinner before heading up to TRIC. Lucas, was wearing a dark gray button down shirt and dark jeans. Brook was wearing a very short black halter dress and her hair was wavy. She was right, he loved it. They were the last ones to get there so they made thier way to the back where they had pushed a bunch of chairs together.

Karen came over shortly after seeing that they were all there now.

"Wow. Look at you all dressed so nicely. May I remind you that is my club you are going to. Please behave yourself."

"When do we ever not behave, Mom?"

She gave him a look as if to say 'What are you talking about?' and he looked down, afraid to say anything else because he knew she had a point.

"As I was saying, behave. Boys no fighting please."

A chorus of "Okay, Karen" and "Yes, mams" followed as the girls just watched in amusement.

"Alright, with that out of the way, what can I get you all?" Karen asked brightly. They all yelled out thier orders and enjoyed a dinner with friends before they all made thier way up to TRIC. Since it was still abit early, they were able to secure a table for the night where everyone could squish in and fit if necessary. Tim and Fergie had actually dragged Mouth to the bar. They were intent, as the single guys of the group, to meet some girls. Jake and Peyton offered to get the first round, which just as Nathan had said the day before wouldn't be very much fun, seeing as Karen and Deb wouldn't serve them any alcohol.

Brooke had settled onto Lucas' lap, his arms wrapped around her waist, hers draped over his shoulder. They had settled into a comfortable silence since the music had started to get too loud to speak to anyone who wasn't right next to you. Brooke actually found it entertaining just watching the people on the dance floor. Every once in a while, Peyton would lean into her and point out a girl in a really tacky outfit. Haley was the first to drag Nathan to the dance floor. Rachel had soon followed saying that she saw a guy she used to know. Bevin and Skills had gotten up too but Brooke couldn't locate them dancing. She found them making out in a secluded corner and laughed to herself.

"You wanna dance, babe?" Lucas whispered into her ear.

She nodded and stood holding her hand out to him. Jake and Peyton, waved them off, content in staying at the table. Lucas wasn't a great dancer but he didn't embaress her. She enjoyed having him so close to her, occasionally bumping into her. She thought it was cute that his one arm never left her waist. She knew that it was probably some macho guy thing and he was claiming his territory but she liked that he wanted to stop other guys from coming up to her. They had been dancing for awhile when Mouth actually asked if he could dance with Brooke when a slow song came on. Since it was just Mouth, Lucas let it go and motioned that he was going to get a drink.

"Hey Mouth, how's it going?"

"It's going."

"No luck finding the ladies?"

"Not really. Tim and Fergie have a contest going to see how many phone numbers we can get by the end of the night. I think Fergie's blowing us out of the water and Tim doesn't have any."

"That sounds about right," Brooke laughed. "So, how's Columbia?"

"It's good. I love New York. There's so many different people. It's so different from Tree Hill."

"I know what you mean. We're like in our own little bubble here aren't we?"

"Yeah, but you had escaped it for awhile."

"I don't think I could stay away forever."

"I'm glad you didn't. You and Lucas seem really happy together. I knew that he never really got over you."

"Thanks, Mouth. I know that you'll find the right girl for you too. You just have to be patient."

"There is this girl I like. I just don't think that she feels the same way. We hang out all the time in New York but I think she just wants to be friends."

"Have you told her how you feel?"

"No, I'm too scared to do that."

"If anyone knows anything about being scared, it's me Mouth. Sometimes it's worth it."

"We'll see, I guess."

The song ended before Brooke could ask him more questions about this girl and he was already pulling away and walking back towards the table. Shrugging, she followed and took a seat next to Peyton and Haley.

"Where're Jake and Nate?"

"Trying to see if they can score some drinks from the bartender while Karen and Deb are downstairs."

"Where's Luke?"

"He said that he was going to get a drink too. I thought he would be back by now."

"There he...oh..." Haley stopped.

Brooked followed her line of sight and her eyes narrowed to see that Lucas was back on the dance floor with Rachel. He wasn't so much dancing as he was swaying uncomfortably back and forth but she was taking the opportunity to rub against him as much as possible. Brooke exhaled deeply as she watched Rachel turn so that her back was to Lucas only to bend down and grind her ass into his crotch, then turn around again and rub her chest up and down his stomach.

"Brooke..." Peyton started.

"What? I haven't said or done anything:."

"Yeah, but you look like you want to pull Rachel's hair out," Haley added.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"That's just how she is. I told you she was skanky. He probably didn't know how to say no."

"Yeah, that's exactly what's he's doing, not saying no." Brooke bit her lip, mad at herself for getting worked up. She could tell that Lucas wasn't doing anything to encourage her but she also knew that he wasn't doing anything to make her stop either.

"Why don't you just cut in?" Peyton said trying to be helpful.

"No thanks. I'm gonna go get that drink." She stood and made it clear to her friends that she didn't want them to come with her with a look. Instead of turning towards the bar though, she found the side entrance that took her outside. The cool air was refreshing and she needed some time to herself to compose herself. The old Brooke probably would have made a scene but she knew that wouldn't help. 'Is it always going to be like this? Why can't I just let it go?' she thought to herself. 'He's not doing anything. He's not doing anything.'

She was so lost in her internal battle with herself, she didn't notice that she wasn't the only one outside anymore.

"Hey, Hales and Peyt said they saw you slip outside."

She nodded with her back still to him.

"They also said that I shouldn't come out here and I should just wait for you to come back in."

"Why didn't you?"

She finally turned and leaned against the banister and saw him rocking on his heels and his hands were stuffed into his pockets, indicating that he was nervous. She nodded and he took it as a sign that it was okay for him to come forward. He took her hands in his and made sure that they were looking directly into each other's eyes.

"I couldn't. I wanted to be with you."

"Why aren't you mad?"

"Why should I be mad?"

"Why do you think I'm out here?"

"You saw me with Rachel."

"So again, why aren't you mad?"

"I'm lost Brooke. Help me out."

"You should be mad at me because I don't trust you!"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted it. His eyes clouded and she could see that she really hurt him with those words.

"You don't trust me?"

"I don't know. I know that you weren't doing anything to encourage her. I could see that you were uncomfortable but it doesn't stop me from feeling like this. I hate it! You should be mad at me."

"I'm not mad, I understand. I'm sad that I hurt you so much that you can't let go of it."

"Don't say that, Luke. Don't try and make what I'm doing okay. It's not!"

"What else can I do? I'm not going to let you go. I'm gonna have to deal with it."

"I'm scared that one day, it's not going to be worth it anymore. You're just gonna say 'Screw it!' and give up on me."

"I'm not Brooke. I'll keep saying it until you believe it."

"How can you be so sure? How can you tell that this time, it's forever as opposed to the other times?"

"What other times? I haven't been able to have other times because I've always wanted you."

"I'm not sure. It's not fair to you but I'm not sure."

"I'm not going to lie and say that it doesn't hurt to hear that but you can't control you're heart. You have to protect it. I understand."

"What happens when you don't understand anymore?"

"I can't answer that."

"If it does happen, you have to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"Just tell me. I don't want you to stay with me because you feel obligated to. If you don't want to be with me, I need to know that you're going to be honest about it. Don't stay just because you don't want to hurt my feelings again and don't cheat."

"I promise. Do you promise to do the same thing?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. So where does this leave us now?"

"Confused."

"I love you. I want to be with you. That's how I feel right now."

"I love you too. I'm sorry. I really do want to just put the past in the past..."

"I know you do.That's why I'm not mad. You're being honest with me and that's exactly what we need to do."

He had moved forward and hugged her to his chest by now and he was rocking them back and forth. He kissed the top of her head and pulled away so he could see her face again. "I know that you don't need to hear this but nothing was going on in there."

"Lucas..."

"Please, just let me explain. It might make you feel better."

"Okay."

"Rachel and Mouth. She was trying to make him jealous."

"What?"

"I guess that they've been hanging out a lot in New York and they're in that wierd stage where they're friends who don't want to admit they like each other. She told me when the song was over. She wanted me to check and see how Mouth reacted."

"How did he?"

"He looked like he was wanted to hurt me. I think they're cool though. I saw them talking on my way out."

"So that's the girl he was talking about. I think he likes her too."

"Can we go back? We were having fun right?"

"Right."

He leaned down and gently kissed her lips and then the tip of her nose before draping his arm around her shoulders and leading her back inside. Ironically, the first thing they saw was Rachel doing her grinding dance against Mouth, who looked like he was in heaven. Chuckling, she leaned more into Lucas as they went to find everyone else.

"Where've you guys been? We're gonna head out now," Nathan said, standing up as soon as they had made it back to the table.

"Are you sure about this?" Haley asked "Nate, you have practice tomorrow."

"C'mon, Haley. When was the last time we were all together?"

Everyone looked at each other and silently thought back. The obvious answer would have been when Brooke had left but really it had been before that. Jake had left to go find Jenny and Haley had left to go on tour before that. It seemed like yesterday but it was so long ago.

Everyone started gathering their things and made thier way to the Blue Post, the local bar that was very lax in the ID checking department. They claimed a pool table and three pitchers of beer.

"So how is this going to work?" Tim asked. "Who gets first game?"

"I don't think we have to worry about Mouth and Rachel wanting to play," Bevin noted, pointing her head towards the kissing couple.

"I'm good with my trusty pitcher of beer," Peyton piped up. Jake just laughed and shook his head.

"I'm with Peyt," Bevin said.

"Looks like the girls just want to watch," Nathan said.

"Speak for yourself!" Haley told him.

"Haley, you don't even know how to play pool!" Nathan retorted.

"So, that doesn't mean I can't play!"

"Fine. Haley can play the first game. Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"You want to play first?"

"Why, so you can get the girls out of the way so you can get to the real game?" Brooke challenged with a smirk. She was standing between Lucas' legs, who was sitting on a stool. He hid his laughter behind her hair, knowing that Nathan was going to regret riling Brooke up.

"C'mon on Brooke. You really don't think that you can play with us right?" Tim stood up for Nathan.

"Count me in. How about this? Me and Haley against you and Nate. Skills, Jake, Fergie and Luke can play next. Then the winners play last and get the pot that I'll start at 25. That's 200 bucks to the winners."

"Are you sure about this Brooke?" Haley asked, looking nervously. Brooke got carried away sometimes. Nathan was right, she didn't even know how to play.

"Don't worry about it, Tutorgirl. I'll even cover you."

"Let's do this!" Tim exclaimed. "Looks like we're gonna get a free ride to the finals, Nate."

"Brooke, why don't you break? Ladies first."

"Why how chivalrous of you?" Brooke said, while rolling her eyes. She pulled away from Lucas, giving him a quick peck and wink as she took her cue stick. As she broke with a firm stroke, everyone could see the glance shared by Nathan and Tim. She didn't get any balls in but it was obvious she knew how to play.

"What the hell?" Nathan muttered, taking a deep sip of his beer.

When she was done, she took her spot back in Lucas' arms, facing him this time. He dipped his head low near her ear "They are going to be so mad when you beat them."

"That's what they get. Thanks for not telling on me."

"Why would I tell them? I'm gonna enjoy seeing you beat them."

"You're the best, Broody."

"Just don't embaress me too much, kay babe? My ego is fragile."

"I'll go easy on you. Remember the first time I took you here."

"I have vague recolections. You got me so drunk that night! I remember waking up with a sore arm and a tatoo really well."

"Do you remember our first kiss?"

"I definitely remember that. You had just showed me your tattoo. Have I told you how sexy I think that thing is?"

"Not recently but it's nice to know it's still appreciated."

"No doubt about that."

"We had some good times, huh?"

"We did and we're going to have so many more."

"That we are. Starting with me kicking Nate and Tim's ass."

"That's pretty damn sexy too."

"Down Broody."

"Fine. Fine. Go kick some ass first."

Grinning, she waited her turn. Nathan had managed to get a couple balls in after Tim had set him up and Haley just plain missed everything. Finally, it was Brookes turn again. She took control of the came after that and Nathan and Tim didn't know what had hit them. They got one more turn each before Brooke was calling her shot and sinking the eight ball. They hung thier heads in shame as the rest of the guys and a very loud Peyton and Bevin heckled them for losing to a bunch of girls.

"I think we just got hussled, Nate," Tim whined.

"Way to give us a heads up on your girlfriend, Luke. We're blood."

"You're joking right? Brooke? Nate? Brooke? Nate? Tough one there."

"You're so whipped," Nathan retaliated.

"Maybe, but I'm not the big loser now am I?"

"Yeah, yeah." Nathan downed the rest of his beer and went to go buy another pitcher. Since he was out, he would have to join Peyton and Bevin at the drinking table.

Lucas and Fergie took on Jake and Skills in the next round and it was much closer than the last game so it took awhile. Brooke and Haley took the opportunity to gloat over thier victory. Jake and Skills actually pulled out the win and took on the girls.

"Since you got to break last time Brooke, I hope you don't mind if I do the honors?" Skills said, not wanting to given them anymore of an advantage than she needed.

"Whatever, I can beat you either way."

Brooke actually preferred it this way. She took Haley into the corner once Skills broke and told her where to aim. She didn't expect Haley to make any in but she could get some help setting up some of her shots. After Jake got one ball in, Brooke took over again and almost ran the table. Everyone took another round of shots when it came back to Brooke. She had one ball to get in before the eight ball. Everyone who had been sporadically been paying attention between other conversations had walked over to see if it was coming to an end. She easily sank the last ball but she was going to have to richochet the cue ball to get the eight ball in the corner pocket near her. With a slight flick of her wrist, she gave it just the amount of touch to bounce off the ball and glance the eight ball, causing it to head towards the corner pocket. The ball fell in and a collective "Oh!" was heard as well as Haley and Brooke jumping up celebrating. The best part of the shot was how she had hit it just enough to hit the eight ball but not hard enough to scratch.

"Damn, girl! You ever think of joining one of those tournaments they have on ESPN?" Skills asked in amazement.

"What can I say? I love beating boys at pool" She shared a secret smile with Lucas, going back to that night almost three years ago. Looking back now, it was the beginning. They enjoyed walking up to all the boys and collecting their money from them one by one. Haley actually offered to give Brooke her half since she merely rode on her coattails but Brooke insisted she kept it so she could gloat to Nathan. Luckily for them, Nathan and Tim had been drinking non-stop since they had lost so they weren't being sore losers anymore.

Brooke waited to collect from Lucas last. Smiling so that her dimples were in full force, she bounced in front of him holding her hand out expectedly.

"Pay up Mr. Scott."

"How about we find an alternate source of payment?" he grinned, leaning in to kiss her.

"Nope. I won, not you! Pay up!"

"Heartless, babe!" Lucas shook his head as he pulled the money from his pocket and put it in her hands. She giggled and then settled herself underneath his arm and kissed him on the cheek.

"Where did you learn to play pool like that, Brooke?" Fergie asked.

"Too many times sneaking in here in high school probably. That and I had a pool table in the guest house so I would play when I got bored. You want next Fergie? That way, I can say I beat all you guys and it'll be a complete victory."

"Don't do it, man," Lucas warned.

"What about you, Luke. Are you scared to take on your girlfriend?"

"Uh, yeah. She kicked my ass on our first date. I have no doubt she would do it in front of all you guys."

"You know Brooke, its not nice to hussle us like that," Nathan interupted, suddenly getting competitive again.

"Please. I never said I sucked. You assumed. You should have asked."

"Who, Lucas? He's too afraid he's not gonna get laid."

"Hey, despite it being true, I didn't do anything to you! Don't bring me into this!"

"You could have asked Peyt or Bev."

"They know you can play pool?" Nathan yelled.

"Duh, why do you think we said we didn't want to play?" Bevin said as it were the most obvious thing in the world. "We practically lived here in high school. I must have lost half my wardrobe to Brooke."

"She would always make bets to embaress me," Peyton added, grimacing at some of the awkward positions she found herself because of Brooke.

"At least you didn't come home with a tattoo," Lucas laughed.

"Hey, I thought you liked your tattoo," Brooke pouted.

"I love my tattoo. It matches yours."

"That it does. You ready to head home?"

"Does that mean you changed your mind about...you know?"

"No, still not going to happen. But that doesn't mean we can't kiss a lot with very little clothing on," she teased.

"Let's go!"


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32:

Brooke felt her head hit the glass and woke up from the nap that she had taken. She looked over to her left and saw Luke leaning against his window, focusing on the road ahead of them. After their late night, they woke up in the late morning and decided to take Lucas' truck to Durham instead of driving back with Nathan and Haley earlier. Lucas had wanted to have his truck at school anyway because when he came back home the next time, he would have to bring a lot of stuff home for the almost month long winter break and this way, he would also be able to take Brooke to the airport without having to borrow Nathan's car.

"Hey."

"Hey, sleepyhead."

"How long have I been out?"

"About an hour. We should be there in like 45 minutes."

"How's the drive been?"

"The traffic hasn't been too bad. A little boring."

"You should have woken me up. You must be sleepy."

"I'm alright. You looked really peaceful sleeping. I couldn't wake you. I'm glad you're up now though."

"Luke, can I ask you something?" Brooke said as she turned her body to face him.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Remember last night when we were talking about how we were going to be honest with each other?"

"Yeah? He looked over at her and reached out to hold her hand. His heart rate started to speed up not knowing where she was going to go with it.

"I think we need to talk about what happened...with Peyton," She looked over at him nervously and could feel his hand grip hers tighter. She bit her lip, not knowing if she really should have brought it up just yet but she had been thinking about it all morning. If she wanted to move on, they needed some closure on what had happened before. All the talking that they did about moving on from what happened, they intentionally avoided talking about what had happened. Lucas seemed content in acknowledging it and trying to convince her he wouldn't do it again. Brooke never wanted to bring it up because it brought back such bad memories. By pushing it aside though, she never got a chance to deal with it.

"Brooke..." he started but didn't really know where to go from there.

"I need to," she pleaded. Hearing that, he knew that he had no other choice so he nodded his head for her to continue.

"We never really talked about it. I yelled a lot but I don't think that I ever really understood how you felt about it besides that you regret it."

"More than you know, Brooke."

"That's just it. I don't understand. If it was the biggest mistake you've ever made, why didn't your feelings for me stop you from doing it or stop you from keep doing it? You're the one who broke up with me, Luke."

"I don't know Brooke. I've asked myself that thousands of times. It wasn't a secret that I liked her when we first started going out. You must have known that."

"Of course I did. The whole reason we went to that party at Duke was because she freaked out when you declared you wanted to be with her. But its not like I didn't give you guys the opportunity to own up to it. She said you were fair game. And you...remember that conversation we had on your porch?"

"Yeah..."

"I wish you guys would have just taken those chances to be honest with me. It still would have hurt but I don't think I would of felt as betrayed as I did."

"I'm sorry." It was all he could say.

"I know that. I really do. If I hadn't of found out the way I did, do you think that you and Peyton would still be together? Would you guys have waited until I got over it and then hoped that I would be okay with it?"

"We never go to that point. She was already feeling so guilty. We were done before we started."

"You just said she felt guilty. That means that you still wanted to be with her after everything that happened."

"At the time, I think I thought I did." He was just going to let it all out now. She deserved the truth. He just hoped that she was still there when it was all out in the open.

"See, I've known that. How can you believe that it was such a big mistake if you still didn't even choose me at the end?"

"Brooke, I really do believe that everything happens for a reason. Yes, I wish that it didn't blow up the way it did but maybe it was supposed to. I did still want to be with Peyton when you found out. I was so lost back then, Brooke. Everything was changing and I was just struggling to keep up. It's not an excuse but that's all I've got to give you. Peyton not wanting to be with me is the best thing that could have happened. Seriously, we would never have worked out. She belongs with Jake."

"If you weren't in love with me while we were going out or even after I found about you two, how could you possibly have fallen in love with me after that? We weren't even talking. God, I even lied about being pregnant! It just doesn't make sense to me."

"Why does it have to make sense? "

"Lucas."

"It doesn't. But maybe that's not a bad thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe we should see it as, no matter what happened between us, no matter how bad it got, I still fell in love with you and it never went away. Doesn't the fact that it happened when it never should have prove to you how strong my feelings for you are? I know that sounds corny but its true."

"You see where I'm coming from though, right?"

"I think so. Brooke, I know like everything else, it may be hard to believe but me cheating on Peyton had nothing to do with how I felt about you."

"How can you say that Lucas? It had everything to do with it!"

"Please, let me try and explain."

"Go ahead."

"I should have never even started something with you when I knew that I still had feelings for Peyton. Especially since you guys are best friends, but, you have to believe me Brooke, my feeling for you were there. It may not have been all out love at the time but they were real. You underestimate yourself. If they weren't there, I would have taken those outs you gave me. As big as an ass as I acted, I didn't stay with you because you were sleeping with me Brooke. I really did like you. I wanted it to work with you."

"You were just with me because Peyton rejected you! Once she told you she wanted you too, you were trying to find ways to get rid of me! If you hadn't been in the accident, you would have broken up with me right away!"

"Remember the night that Nathan collapsed at the game? We had just started going out."

"Yeah, that's when I got suspicious because Peyton showed up at your bedroom door."

"She told me that night that she wanted to be with me."

"I kind of figured that out myself."

"I chose you though. If my feelings for you hadn't started then, don't you think it would have been easy for me to just say, 'Sorry, Brooke. I was wrong.' and chose Peyton?"

"I don't know. You were a guy and I was giving it up."

"Brooke. Why do you do that? No matter what you might think, you were more to me than that. This is going to sound terrible but if it was sex I wanted, I could have gotten that from Peyton too. She was the one who didn't want to do serious, remember?"

"I guess we've gone full circle, haven't we?"

"As stupid as I am, I got over Peyton pretty quickly."

"Yeah, I remember. That's where Nikki came in."

Lucas grimaced hearing that name. If cheating on Brooke with Petyon was the biggest mistake he had ever made, sleeping with Nikki right after was coming in a close second.

"I really was an idiot. You were both mad at me, I couldn't play basketball. Haley was going out with Nathan and I still hated him at the time. Life was pretty bad."

"What about Anna?"

"I think we kind of used each other, but I just finally realized that I still had feelings for you and they had grown to the point where I was in love with you."

"That's it. That right there is why I'm terrified Luke. Everytime you're with someone, you change your mind and think that you want to be with someone else. What makes you think this time is different."

"I just know it is Brooke. I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you if I have to. I'm sorry that I have to put you through this again but I just know it this time."

"I'm afraid that everytime I see you get close to another girl, it's going to happen again."

"I know. I just wish I could do something to change that for you but since I can't, I deserve to live with it. Let me just tell you one thing. I realized that I wanted to be with you our junior year of high school and there's been no one else who comes close Brooke. You weren't even in my life and you were the one I wanted. I hope that counts for something."

"It does. I wouldn't be here if it didn't."

"I'm sorry if I couldn't give you the answers you needed."

"In some ways you did. Part of me just needed to finally listen to your side of what happened. I've heard you apologize a million times but I think I have a better understanding of what you were apologizing for and it makes it easier to believe."

"I love you Brooke. I am so in love with you now, it's not even funny."

"I love you too. It would be so much easier for the both of us if we weren't together, don't you think?"

"It may be easier but nothing would be worth it for me. I know we've only been back together for a month but I can't help it. You're all I can think about. When I'm not with you, I'm just counting down the time I can see you again. When I am with you, I'm just hoping that time stands still so I don't have to let go of you again. It's kind of scary for me too."

"That kind of makes me feel better knowing that you're scared too."

"One day at a time, kay? As long a we're together."

"Together."


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33:

Brooke went back to California the next day after another tear inducing trip to the airport with Lucas. They had stood at the curb of the airport unwilling to let go of each other until she absolutely had to get in line to check in and make her flight. As she sat on the plane, she couldn't help but feel content. She felt that in the week that she had spent with Lucas, they had made great strides in thier relationship. The last time that she had left, they hadn't had much of a chance to talk things out, this time, they had dealt with some major issues and she could tell that they were being honest with each other. It gave her a good feeling about thier future together, something that she hadn't had in such a long time and something she never really could have imagined ever having again. She fell asleep on the plane thinking about the wonderful night they had spent making love after thier talk in his truck and hadn't fallen asleep until the sun was peeking in through his window the next morning.

They watched Nathan's basketball game the next afternoon and then after a quick dinner with Nathan and Haley, he dropped her off at the airport. She had been back in California for about a week, and as he had promised, they had talked every day. Finals were looming around the corner for both of them so they were both extremely busy. She found herself collapsing in her bed every night only to close her eyes and realize that it was time to get up again. She was in her room studying one night when she decided she needed to take a break. She logged in online to check her email and smiled to see one from Lucas.

_Baby, just wanted to say hi, I miss you soooooooo much. Love always, Luke._

She immediately hit 'reply'.

_I miss you too Broody. Counting down the days until I see you agin. Love always, Brooke._

The next email came from an unfamiliar email adress. Opening it up, she realized it was a local firm she had applied to for an internship almost two months ago. When she didn't get an immediate response, she had assumed that the position had gone to someone else and had thought nothing of it. She had thought of looking into more internships but with everything that had happened in the last month she just didn't have the time. Curious, she opened it anyway.

_Miss Davis, _

_Thank you for your interest in our internship position. We apologize for the delay in getting back to you but in reviewing your application, we would like to set up an interview. If you are still interested, please call 800-555-2384 to schedule one for as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you._

_Sincerely,_

_Patrick McMichael_

_Jenkins & Rubenstein Designs_

Staring at her computer screen, she realized what a great opportunity it good be. Having this internship on her resume once she graduated would help a lot when she wanted to find a permanant position. It was late evening already so she wouldn't be able to call until the morning. It gave her some time to think about it. It it had been two months ago, she wouldn't of hesitated, but now she had seriously been thinking of moving back East. It wouldn't make sense to take this position if she was just going to leave at the end of the school year. It looked like she would have to make her mind up a lot earlier than she anticipated.

Sighing, she saw that the time was 11:15 in the evening. She had already talked to Lucas that night and he had told her that he had a long day at work and he was going to turn in. It would already be past 2 for him and she didn't want to wake him up. She decided that she would talk to him about it in the morning when he called her and then call Mr. McMicael to schedule the interview.

Deciding that she had wasted enough time, she turned back to her studying and then went to sleep, anxious to see what this new turn of events would bring.

Morning came and the ringing of her cell phone on her nightstand woke her up a little after 6.

"Morning," she whispered sleepily.

"Morning babe, how'd you sleep?"

"Pretty good. What are you doing?"

"I just got out of class. I've got a couple of hours until I have to head to the athletic center for work."

"Can you spare a couple minutes, I need to run something by you?"

"Always, what's up?"

"So, a couple months ago, I applied for this internship at a design firm in LA. I didn't hear from them so I thought that they had filled it already but last night I got an email asking me to call them and schedule for an interview."

"That's awesome babe."

"I don't know if I should do it."

"Why not?"

"Well, you know that I've seriously been thinking of transferring to Duke next year. It wouldn't make sense if I took this position knowing I'm only going to be there for a couple months. I didn't think I had to make the decision so quickly. I haven't even applied to Duke yet. What if I turn the internship down and then Duke doesn't accept me?"

"Woah, Brooke. Slow down. Stress about one thing at a time."

"Luke..."

"Ok, why don't you call and schedule your interview? See if you can put it off until early next week. That will give you until the weekend to figure some stuff out and prepare. You can find out when the deadline is to transfer, stuff like that. Then you should go to the interview and I don't want you to half ass it, go in and do your best to get it. This could be really big for you, babe. Then when they tell you if it's yours or not, make your decision. I know you won't know if you can transfer or not but there are so many schools here, I really don't think you're going to have a problem finding one."

"That sounds logical. It won't hurt to see if I get it or not."

"And Brooke?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so proud of you. I can't believe all the stuff your juggling right now. Just know, no matter what. I'll be here."

"Thanks, Luke. I feel a lot less stressed."

"Any time."

"Ok, I better go get ready. I'll let you know how it goes. Have a good day. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

She called Mr. McMichael later in the morning. The first opening he had was the next Tuesday, so just like Lucas said, she had time to figure out some things out. She went online later that evening and went on the Duke website. She had until March to submit her application to transfer and she would know by May if she was accepted or not. Groaning as she downloaded the application, she saw that it was 24 pages long. If there was ever a time she felt overwhelmed it was now. She thought of all the things she was dealing with, finals, getting an internship, selling the house along with organising the rest of her inheritance, moving back to North Carolina,and most of all missing Lucas.

There was only one of those things she could work on at that late hour so she picked up her phone.

"Hey, babe. How'd it go?"

"I have an interview Tuesday morning at 9."

"That's great. You'll have plenty of time to prepare. I know that you're going to nail it."

"Yeah, I have to really work on my portfolio this weekend."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just a little overwhelmed again, I guess. I downloaded the application I need to fill out to transfer and Luke, it's 24 pages long! There's a bunch of recommendations I have to get filled out and some personal statements."

"What did I tell you this morning?"

"One thing at a time."

"See, you knew that without even having to talk to me."

"I know. It's just hard to focus on one thing when I know that there's all this other stuff I need to get done too."

"I know you can do it. Just remember that your primary focus should be the school you're at now and studying for your finals. If this doesn't work out, there are other internships out there."

"You're right. I hate it when you're right."

"I know you do."

"Ok, enough of this. How was your day?"

"Good. Same old, same old. Class. School. Had dinner with Hales and Nate."

"I wish I could have been there."

"Baby, don't do that to yourself. I wish that you were here too but you can't let yourself get down like this."

"It's hard, Luke."

"We both knew it would be. Stay strong for me okay. I know you can do this."

"What if I can't?"

"Not even an issue, Brooke. Just take it one at a time. Trust me."

"I do. I just wish that these next two years would just be done with already. I hate not knowing which way I'm supposed to go."

"You're not the only one, Brooke. Don't worry."

"Really?"

"Yeah, me too."

"I'm sorry, I'm such a mess. You have a lot going on. You don't need me adding to it. That's not fair."

"I want you to come to me, Brooke. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't come to me, okay?"

"I'll try. Growing up sucks."

"I'm not that big a fan either."

"Broody?"

"Yeah?"

"Not to scare you or anything but do you ever thing about what's going to happen to us after graduation?"

"Every day."

"Like how?"

"I just wonder where we're going to be because it's not a question that we're gonna be together. I've thought that maybe you're not meant to come back home. Maybe I'm supposed to move out there. I get kind of scared, you know? Everything I know is here."

"I wouldn't ask you to do that for me, Luke."

"But I might not have any other choice. You're there and if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that eventually I have to be where you are, Brooke."

"Oh, Lucas."

"Do you ever think about it?"

"Every day, too. I never used to think about it before but now all I can think about is the future. Do you want kids, Luke?"

"Don't you ever tell Nate this but I've always wanted the house with the white picket fence, two kids and a dog. Cheesy, huh?"

"Sounds about perfect."

"We'll get there. We don't have to rush, kay? I'm only 20. You're not even there. We have like 60, 70 years to be together."

"I like it when you say it like that. I wish I was as certain as you Lucas."

"That's okay. I'll hold on for the both of us until you're right here with me."

"I'm so lucky to have you. I love you."

"I love you too and I'm the lucky one."

"I better let you go. It's getting late."

"If I got to talk to you all night, it would be worth it."

"You're gonna make it hard to stay here."

"You'll figure it out. Good Night."

"Thanks Luke. Good night."

Over the next couple of days, Brooke was busy trying to prepare for her interview. She worked on the designs in her portfolio to make sure that she showed her talent as well as her imagination. On Saturday, she went shopping with Stephanie and Danielle to find a suit that she could wear and every night, she talked to Lucas so that he could calm her down. She was back and forth. One night, she wanted to stick it out in LA. Other nights, she just wanted to go home. He never pushed her in either direction. He would go along with whatever she said, giving her the positives of each scenario. She argued that he was no help at all but she know that he wanted her to make this decision on her own. He made it clear one night that even though he had an obvious preference, he didn't want her to have any regrets so he would be happy with whatever she decided. Knowing what he was doing just made her lean towards going home all the more.

The one thing they did agree on was that there was no way they would be seperated more than they had too. If she stayed, during thier senior year, she would look for jobs in California and North Carolina, and he would apply to medical schools in both places as well. They would see what happened and make a decision together. He didn't want to wait too long to get married and she didn't want to wait until she was thirty to have kids so it worked out for the both of them. It was weird at first talking to him about thier future, considering not only how recently they had gotten together but actually just came back into each other lives. The more they talked about it though, the more real it became. She could already see herself walking down the aisle and he would be standing at the end looking gorgeous in his tux. She couldn't believe that it had happened so quickly but she was certain that was what she wanted. Slowly but surely, she was gaining that certainty that he already had.

Haley and Peyton on the other hand, were not so discreet in what they wanted her to do. They openly told her that she should come home and that there were plenty of internships in North Carolina. Stephanie and Danielle wanted her to stay in California, although, whenever Brooke brought up Lucas, they swooned like little girls who believed in fairy tales and told her thay wouldn't blame her if she left. They just kept making her promise that they would be allowed to be bridesmaids at her wedding.

It was already the evening before the interview and Brooke was sitting in her apartment lying anxiously in bed. She had wanted to get a good night sleep so she could wake up early and get some last minute prepartation and breakfast. Just lying there caused her mind to wander. The conversation she had in Lucas' room a little month came to mind. She chuckled to herself. She had told him that she wanted to take things slowly. They didn't really do too well on that one. They had only waited a month to have sex and not a few weeks after that, they were talking about how they were going to get married in a few years. While she had grown confident in thier relationship, it scared her as well. Could she take such a big risk. Sure, they were doing well, but they had been apart for most of the time they had been together. How could she move back based on that? The other side was, they were planning on getting married. How could she do that if she stayed in California. What if they made it to marraige but when they did get to spend some time together after they were married, it all fell apart. Maybe they needed those two years together to be certain. Shaking her head, she prayed for a sign to lead her in the right direction.

When she could feel herself falling asleep, she pulled out her phone and called Lucas. He had a lot of studying to do that night so she didn't want to keep him up trying to calm her down.

"Hello?"

"Hey, babe. I was just going to go to sleep and I wanted to check and see how the studying was going?"

"I'm almost done. I think I should be good. Nervous?"

"You know me so well. A little."

"You'll do great. I'll call you in the morning?"

"Yeah."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

He woke her up in the morning and stayed on the phone as she walked around getting breakfast ready, then wished her good luck as she needed to take a shower. Brooke decided on a dark gray skirt and jacket with a pale pink blouse to wear on the interview. She pulled her hair off of her face and put on some light make-up. Satisfied that she looked professional, she took her portfolio and headed out the door. The firm was located in Beverly Hills which was only about 15 minutes away from her apartment. She checked in at the lobby and was led into a conference room where she was told that Mr. McMichael would be joining her in a moment. She took the time to take some deep breaths to calm herself down. She was generally a confident person but she wasn't used to this athmosphere so it would take awhile to get used to.

Mr. McMichael's came in shortly. He was a very friendly and that set her at ease. He discussed what he was looking for in an intern and she used that time to convince her that she possessed all of the qualities that he was looking for. She tried to sound confident in her answers and it helped that she was a people person, her personality was showing through and it wasn't a stuffy interview. She told him about her studies at UCLA and as it turned out all his children had attended there as well. He told her about what he would need from her if she was offered the position and she assured him that she would be able to meet not only the mental demands but the time and effort that was necessary as well. The final step was to show him her portfolio to show him some of the designs she had already worked on. He told her that he was very impressed and that she was certainly talented. It turned out that he had 3 other interviews throughout the week so he told her that he would contact her next Monday with his decision. She thanked him as she exited and then she sighed in relief. As soon as she was in her car again, she called Lucas.

"Hey, how did it go?"

"I have a good feeling about it. He was really nice and he seemed to really like my designs. He has a couple more interviews this week but he said that he would get back to me on Monday."

"I'm glad that it went well. I'm sure that you'll get it."

"It really would be amazing, Luke. It's exactly what I wanted when I chose architeural design as my major. It would look really good on my resume and I'm not going to find this first hand experience in a class room."

"I really hope that you get it then, babe. Do you get paid?"

"Actually, it is a paid internship. It's not a lot for the hours that I would need to put in but it's not like I need it for the money. It would just be a good first step, you know for the future?"

"You sound really excited about it."

"I am. Crazy, who would of thought, I would get excited about working?"

"Nothing you do amazes me anymore, babe. You could tell me that you invented post-it's and I'd believe you."

"You would not! What are you up to?"

"I don't have to go into work today so I just have my quiz later this afternoon."

"Okay, I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I have class later too. Good Luck."

"Thanks. Love you."

"Love you, too. Lucas?"

"Thank you for putting up with my this week."

"Not a problem, babe. Bye."

"Bye."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34:

The week went quickly for Brooke. She tried not to think about the internship so she busied herself with school as well as selling the house in Malibu. Mr. Roberts, whom she had decided was the best person to assist her and whom had kindly agreed to help, had told her late in the week that there was an offer on the house. It was right at the asking price so he warned her that if she held out a little longer, she could probably get a lot more for it. He left it up to her though. He knew money wasn't much of an incentive for her. She had actually decided to call Karen for help in deciding if she should take the offer.

"I don't think you can go wrong either way, sweetie. You've got a nice offer there."

"I know. Part of me wants to just take it so I don't have to worry about it anymore. The other part of me thinks that I need to be smart about this. I mean, I can't predict the future. I should try to insure it for as much as I can, don't you think? Especially since I have no idea what kind of job I'm going to have, this may be what I have to live on for the rest of my life."

"Brooke, I know that you want to make sure that you're okay for the future, but even without this, you have a pretty good foundation to live off of and I have faith that even without your parent's money, you'll be just fine. You're doing well in school so I'm not worried about you being able to support yourself when you're done, sweetie."

"Thanks, Karen. I don't want to rely on my parent's life for the rest of my life, either. It's just nice knowing that it's there to fall back on. I wish I was more like you."

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon Karen, you're like one of the strongest people I know. You raised Lucas pretty much all by yourself, and you've done a mighty fine job I might add, and you run two sucessful business. I know it wasn't always easy for you and you didn't have your parents to bail you out if something went wrong and look where you are right now. After all that struggling, you've done so much for yourself and Lucas. I know how proud of you he is. I just hope that when I look back on my life, I can say that I did half of the things you did."

"Oh, Brooke. That's very sweet of you to say. And I know that you can do it, with or without thier money."

"I think I'm going to take the offer. I really want to get it over with and be able to focus on school. I think I pretty much have everything in order according to Mr. Roberts. It'll be nice to know that I don't have to worry about one less thing. Karen?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm not going to change my mind but what would you have done?"

"I think that you should take it too. I don't want you to worry too much. I want you to have some time just being a kid and worrying about selling houses is not part of being a kid. If the offer were lower, I might have tried to convince you to hold on for a little bit more but I think this one's fair."

"Thanks, Karen. That makes me feel good about my decision."

"You've got a good head on your shoulders, Brooke. Trust in yourself more."

"I'm starting to believe in that."

"And Brooke?"

"Yes?"

"I want to thank you, too."

"For what?"

"For making my son happy. And also for being someone I want my son to be happy with. It makes it a lot easier on a mother when she likes the girl her son is going to marry."

"He told you about that?"

"Yes, but he didn't have to. Just know that you're like the daughter I wasn't able to have and I am going to be so proud once my son makes it official."

"That means a lot. I know how much your opinion means to him."

"I'm glad for that, but somehow I don't think it would matter too much when it comes to you. It's the best feeling in the world knowing that my son has found that kind of love."

"It's pretty amazing."

"Okay, I'll let you get this deal done. Take care, Brooke. I'll see you in a few weeks."

"I will. You take care too."

Brooke notified Mr. Roberts to proceed with the sale. He told her that he thought it was a good offer and he thought she was making a good decision in taking it, so she no longer had any doubts. He said that he would take care of everything else and that he would notify her once it was complete. With that out of the way, Brooke was able to think more about another offer that she might be given. The more and more she thought about it, the more she really wanted to have that internship. That brought on feelings of guilt and sadness. If she took this offer, then it would guarentee that she would graduate at UCLA. Duke had a rule that transfers had to enroll for at least two years. If she didn't transfer the next school year, she would have to transfer and stay in school one more year than she had to, and she didn't think that made any sense.

During the weekend, she only talked to Lucas a couple times and only for a few minutes. He was actually travelling with the basketball team to Washington D.C. for their away game with Georgetown. He wasn't scheduled for all the games but she knew that he was excited to be around the basketball team even if he wasn't able to play anymore. She actually didn't want to talk too much to anyone while she tried to figure out where she wanted to be the next two years. This way, she wouldn't have to many outside influences. Like Karen had told her she needed to trust in her decisions more. After hours and hours of consideration, she finally came to a decision Monday morning that suprised even her. She decided not to tell anyone about it until she got the call from Mr. McMichael that morning.

She went to class in the morning and when she got out, she checked her phone and sure enough, there was a voicemail. Shakily, she pressed down to check it.

_"Good Morning, Brooke. It's Patrick McMichael. I just wanted to let you know that I've discussed all the candidates with the partners and they both loved your designs. The position is yours to accept. Give me a call and we can work out some of the details. Congratulations! I hope to hear from you soon."_

Closing her phone shut, her heart was racing. She wanted to scream and jump up and down but she was in the middle of campus so she didn't want to look odd. She couldn't believe she had actually gotten it. She had two calls to make. She just hoped that he wouldn't be too disappointed in her.

She called Mr.McMichael first and told her of her decision and then she waited until she knew Lucas was out of class.

"Hey, did he call you back yet?"

"Yeah, he did. Luke, I got it!"

"You did? That's awesome, baby. I'm so proud of you! I knew you could do it!"

"I can't believe it. I actually got it. Are you busy? Do you have some time to talk?"

"Yeah, I'm done for the day."

"Okay, um...I kind of made up my mind about what I wanted to do and I wanted to tell you."

"Go for it."

"Okay," she sighed. "I decided that whatever I do, you're the most important thing to me. I also realized what an amazing guy you are and that I can trust you. I know that I've had some issues with that recently but just seeing how you've handled this whole thing the last couple of weeks, you've really proven to me, even if you shouldn't have had to, how you're willing to put my happiness first. You don't know how much that means to me, Broody. Really. It helped me to realize that you're sincere about this and that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me if you could help it and that's all I could really ask for. With that being said, knowing that I can count on you like that let me know that we don't have to be at the same school to make this work. I know that I love you and two years isn't going to change that. I hope that you understand. I took the internship. I'm going to start after the new year since I told him that I was going home for the holidays."

It was silent for a little bit on the other end. She didn't want to push him as he processed everything she had just said. When it had been a couple minutes and he still hadn't said anything, she started getting worried.

"Luke? You're not mad at me are you? I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before I took it, you had said that you would be okay with what I decided. Please don't be mad."

"Brooke! Brooke, calm down. I'm not mad. It was just a lot to take in that's all."

"Are we okay?"

"Of course. I meant what I said. Whatver you decide, I will support you. I'm going to be honest and tell you that I am a little disappointed I won't be able to see you everyday but hearing you say that you trust in me and us again is the best news you could have given me."

"Really?"

"Really. We're going to be fine, Brooke. I don't have any doubts."

"Me either. I wouldn't have done this if I did."

"I know. You don't know how happy I am to hear that."

"I don't think you know how much you've saved me, Luke. I was in a bad place until I found you again. You've gotten me back to a point where I can say that I'm genuinely happy to be alive again."

"You're giving me too much credit. I just gave you a little nudge. You had it in you the whole time. And you saved me too. A part of me was missing and I got it back when you came back."

"I guess we're stuck with each other, huh?

"Yeah, you're never gonna get rid of me. Sucks for you!"

"It's great for me. I love you, Lucas Scott."

"I love you, Brooke Davis."


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35:

Lucas waited patiently for his brother outside of the Duke lockerroom. Nathan had a solid game against Villanova and was slowly becoming a major player on the basketball team as just a sophmore. There was quite a bit of media still trying to get in to interview the Duke team so he didn't expect Nathan for awhile. He took the time to lean back and close his eyes in an attempt to take advantage of the down time he finally had. For the last week he had been so overwhelmed with finals and work that he didn't know which end was up. He had taken his last final that afternoon, only to have to head over to the stadium to work the basketball game, but now he only had a couple more days of work before he headed home for winter break.

He was brought back to reality by the ringing of his cell phone in his pocket. His face broke into and involuntary smile just like every other time he got to talk to her.

"Hello?"

"Hey, baby. What are you doing?"

"I'm just waiting for Nate to finish up in the lockerroom so that I can go home. I'm wiped."

"Did you guys win?"

"Yeah, Nate was great."

"Tell him good job for me."

"I will. What are you doing?"

"I'm waiting for Steph to come pick me up. We're going to find a coffee house to study at. You're so lucky that you're done. How was your final this afternoon?"

"Hard. It took all three hours and I still needed more time."

"Ouch. I'm sure you did great no matter what."

"Thanks babe. I'm just glad that they're over. My brain feels like smush right now."

"Some of us aren't so lucky."

"I can't wait until you get here tomorrow. I miss you."

"I miss you too. Just 24 more hours."

"Hey, I'll let you get to studying. It looks like Nate's gonna be out soon."

"Ok, oh! Wait! I forgot the main reason I called."

"What's up?"

"I left you a surprise in your room. Consider it your reward for getting through finals."

"Brooke, what did you do?"

"You're going to have to wait and see, won't you?"

"How did you get it in my room?"

"Patience, Broody.I've got my ways.You just have to promise me to close your eyes and count to 10 when you walk in. Do you promise?"

"Sure, but how would you find out if I did it or not?"

"If you love me, you'll close your eyes."

"I'll close them."

"Yay! You're going to love it! I'll check with you later to see how much you liked it. Love you!"

"Love you too, babe."

He shook his head as he snapped his phone shut. There was no doubt about it, his girlfriend was crazy.

"Why are you shaking your head?" Nathan asked, coming up to him.

"Brooke."

Nathan nodded his head in understandment "Ready to roll?"

"Yeah, hey, you hungry? Wanna grab some burgers? I'm starving."

"Ummmmm...actually I can't. I have plans...with Hales..."

"Isn't she cramming for her final in the morning? She told me she couldn't go to the game because she would be at the library."

"Oh yeah...I'm going to meet her there."

"Weren't you done with finals yesterday?"

"Yeah, but I told her that I would help her study. C'mon, we should get going. She's waiting."

Lucas looked at him strangely but followed anyway. Something about Nathan's story didn't make sense but he couldn't see a reason why he would lie about itso he decided to drop it. Nathan drove him back to the frat house and practically sped off as soon as he stepped out and closed the door.

'Wierd,' Lucas thought. He walked into the frat which was as quiet as the library during finals week and headed up to his room. He was still hungry but he wanted to drop off all his stuff first. He was about half way up the stairs when he remembered his conversation with Brooke. She had told him that she had left him a surprise in his room. Curious as to what she had done, he ran the rest of the way up the stairs and true to his word, he put his hand over his eyes before walking into the dark room. He felt for the light switch and did a mental countdown to 10. Once he was done he removed his hand and gasped at what he saw in front of him.

"Hey you," Brooke said, with a slight wave as she sat on the edge of his bed. She was biting her lip nervously waiting for him to respond. It seemed as if he was in shock because he hadn't said or done anything yet.

"What? How? Never mind," he brushed his thoughts aside and in two large steps he pulled her up and into his arms. She squealed and threw her arms around his neck as his lips found hers, sighing in contentment when they finally pulled away a couple minutes later.

"A girl can get used to these kinds of greetings," she grinned up at him, playfully running her hand through his hair.

"You're not supposed to be here until tomorrow night."

"My professor told us three weeks ago that instead of a sit down final, we would have a project due instead. I worked my ass off to get in turned in this morning so that I could surprise you. Do you like it?"

"I definitely like," he said, leaning down to kiss her again. "Did Nate know about this? He was acting wierd earlier."

"Yeah, he was under strict orders to get you back right after the game."

"I can't believe you're here." He tightened his hold around her waist before finally letting her go.

"So, we've got the whole night to ourselves Broody, what did you want to do?" Her eyes were gleaming up at him as she led him to the edge of the bed. Once she pushed him to sit down, she straddled his lap.

"Are you hungry? I was gonna head downstairs to grab something to eat."

"Um...I think I have a better idea." She started to kiss a trail from his neck to his earlobe. She began to nibble on it as her hand found the hem of his shirt. "What do you say we just stay here for a bit and I show you how much I've missed you," she whispered into his ear before she removed his shirt.

"I think that I like your idea a lot better."

Lucas woke up the next morning, remember how hungry he was. He gently shook Brooke awake and she reluctanlty agreed to go down and have some breakfast with him. She put on a pair of his pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt and took his hand as they made thier way downstairs. They found Mike working on a gigantic stack of pancakes as they got down there.

"Hey Mike, how are you doing?" Brooke asked as she sat down.

"Hey Brooke! Good to see you! For a second there, I thought I would have to beat Scott's ass!"

"Huh?" they both asked, confused.

"Luke said that you weren't coming until tonight so when I heard you guys last night, I thought Lucas was...you know?"

"You heard us?" Brooke gasped, her cheeks blushing.

"Unfortunately, the walls are pretty thin," Mike revealed. "Isn't that right, Luke?"

"Yeah, I've had a lot of sleepless nights because of you."

"Then why would you guys put your beds up against the same wall?"

"Well, until you came along, let's just say I never had a problem with it," Mike laughed. "It's a good thing, you're only here once in awhile. I need my sleep, what with it being basketball season and all, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lucas grumbled. "I've just been to lazy to move the bed."

"Did you know he could hear us?" Brooke yelled at Lucas, swatting him on the arm.

"Ow! That hurt. It's not like it was something that I was thinking about obviously once we ..." he trailed.

"Well, now that I know, it's definitely not happening here again!"

"Babe, that's not funny." Lucas whispered.

"Who says that I'm joking?"

"Well, it's been fun kids, I'll see you guys later," Mike said chuckling as he stood up and left.

Immediately, Lucas looked over at Brooke with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Baby, we barely see each other as it is," he whined.

"It doesn't matter. I can't do _that_ knowing that people can hear us!"

"We can be quiet!"

"Lucas, you're whining!" Brooke yelled, unable to stop from laughing at him.

"Yeah, I'm whining. You won't do it my house and now we can't do it here. I need you," he begged.

"I need you too, babe, but I can't look people in the face knowing that they've heard us! Don't worry about it."

"How can I not?" he grumbled.

"There's always my house. The sooner you help me get it all set up, the sooner we have a place all to our selves."

Lucas' face brightened at the idea immediately.

"We should head back now and start working on it," he suggested with a sly grin.

"Lucas! You're impossible. You have to work the game on Saturday, remember?"

"Damn it!" he yelled, which caused more than a few people to look over at them and Brooke to start laughing at him again.

"I missed you," she said seriously, pulling him to her for a soft kiss.

"I missed you more," he challenged with a smirk as he pulled away.

She swatted him one more time before she stood and held out her hand for him.

"C'mon, I know Mike didn't go back to his room. All this talk about sex just made me really want you right now."

"Seriously?" he asked as he stood up.

"Seriously. We have to take the opportunities that come, right?" she teased, her dimples in full display.


	36. Chapter 36

A/N - I've gone through the chapters and fixed some typos and grammar. Plot's still the same. 5/20/08

Chapter 36:

"Lucas, can you come up here for a sec?" Brooke yelled.

Lucas dropped the screwdriver he was holding and groaned. They had a good Christmas with thier friends and families with lots of presents and parties. Now, it was the week after Christmas and Brooke had made good on her intent to start furnishing her house. She had gone shopping several times with Peyton, Haley and even his mother and had bought everything from furniture, to linens, to silverware. She was intent on making the place liveable by the time she had to fly back to California in a week and a half. Unfortunately for him, Nathan and Jake, they were recruited in helping her assemble all the furniture that she had delivered that day. Nathan and Jake had since abandoned him, making up lame excuses about having to be somewhere else. Unfortunately for him, he had no such luxury as she had already known he had nothing else going on.

He lumbered his way upstairs, dreading whatever task she was going to assign him next. He just hoped that it would be quick and they could get back to his house soon. He was seriously exhausted. He found her in the master bedroom with her hands on her hips staring at the bed intently. She had put on the sheets and pillows she had bought on and he had the feeling that he was supposed to tell her how nice they were.

"Wow. Great job, babe."

"Don't sound too excited now," Brooke said, seeing his lack of expression. "Try it out."

Looking at her uncertainly, he walked over to the bed sat at the edge and jumped up a bit.

"What do you think now?"

"Nice. Bouncy." Honestly, he didn't know what else to say, it looked and felt like any other bed to him.

Rolling her eyes, she walked over to him and straddled his lap. He was caught a little off guard as she began to kiss him and that actually caused them both to fall backwards onto the bed. It didn't stop her from kissing him though so he went with it. When she finally pulled back, she smirked at him. "Now, what do you think of the bed?"

"Good...bed," he panted, still trying to catch his breath from that kiss.

"I thought you might like it," she said into his mouth.

The kissing had escalated when she pulled away again. He groaned at the loss of contact and tried to pull her back to him but she shook her head at him.

"We should stop. You're all sweaty and you're going to get my nice new sheets all dirty."

He looked at her like she had grown a second head. He couldn't even formulate a sentence, he couldn't believe that she was stopping them now. She had started it in the first place. "Baby, tell me you're joking! Please. You cannot start that...and then tell me we're not going to do anything anymore! Are you trying to kill me?" he accused.

Brooke smiled and leaned down to whisper into his ear. "Of course, I wouldn't do that. I just thought that we could take a shower first and clean each other up a little first"

He breathed a sigh of relief and then got up from the bed. She let out a shriek and started giggling as he lifted her up with him in a rush to get them into the bathroom.

Hours later, they were both snuggled deep in those new sheets. She was in her favorite position, under the crook of his arm, with her head resting on her bare chest. She could feel his heart beat start to even out while he was tracing circles onto her back, watching her.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"How much I love you."

"I love you, too."

"It's crazy how everything can get so flipped around in a little over two months, isn't it?"

"I've got no complaints. As long as I have you, everything is the way is should be."

"I believe it now. You and me, I mean. I know that this is it for me. It was hard for me to understand how you could be so sure without anything concrete to base it on. and I don't really have anything to point to and say that's what changed my mind. I just do. In my heart and my head. I guess that there are just going to be somethings that we can't explain."

"You don't know how much I needed to hear you say that. I've never doubted that you loved me, just like I never doubted that you're the one for me but that didn't stop me from being scared. I could tell you weren't completely sure yet. I was scared that you may never get there. I know that it took a lot for you to get to this point, andfor you to say it, it means everything, Brooke."

"I'm glad that I'm here too, Broody. You're pretty worth it."

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"Yeah, but it's nice to hear it from other people too!" she giggled.

He just smiled and pulled her in closer, kissing the top of her head.

"Seriously, though. Thank you for fighting for me, for us."

"I told you, I would do it for the both of us until you were ready."

"I know, but words can only do so much. You backed it up, too. Not too many guys would be able to put up with me after everything we have gone through."

"We've had a few rough patches but we're worth it, you know? I would have done whatever it took, Brooke. Seriously."

"Before I came back home, all I could think about is what did I do to deserve all these bad things from happening to me. Now, I can't help but think, what did I do to that I'm so this happy. I feel kind of guilty. I mean, my parents died and I'm happy."

"They wouldn't want you to live in the past, Brooke. Your parents loved you. They would want you to be happy."

"I know."

"You make me happy too. I hope that you know that too."

He could feel her nod into his chest. "Broody?"

"Yeah?"

"Remember when I freaked out on you when you called me 'Cheery' again?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I wouldn't mind if you called me that anymore. I kinda miss it."

He was caught a little off guard by that. It had been on the tip of his tongue so many times but he couldn't bring himself to say it again for fear that she would have the same reaction as the day of the funeral. He looked down and lifted her chin so that she was looking up at him. She had a small smile but he was looking directly at her eyes. In them, he saw all the confirmation he needed. She could never hide her feelings in her eyes. He gave her a gentle kiss.

"I've missed it too, Cheery."

They both smiled and she rested her head back on his chest. Even though it seemed like such a little thing, it felt like the last barrier she had put up had come down. She had opened herself up to him completely again and he couldn't be happier. He made a silent vow to never take it for granted.

"It feels like everything is how it's supposed to be now, huh?" she asked, as if she was reading his mind.

"Yeah, it does. Everything's perfect."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

They soon fell asleep entangled in each others arms at peace with knowing that whatever they had to face in the future, they were in it together.

The End


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